Terrace homes comprise the lion’s share of landed homes

Terrace homes comprise the lion’s share of landed homes
Dec 30, 2009 - PropertyGuru.com.sg

Prices of landed homes continue to escalate this year in the five most renowned districts despite the setting in of price fatigue for apartments and condominiums.

Credo Real Estate’s caveats analysis, which covered a period of four years from the time when residential property commenced into the market in 2006, presents that terrace house prices were the most resilient over the last four years, increasing by more than 50 percent in some areas.

More than semi-detached bungalows and houses, the average price of terrace houses per square foot has risen time after time between 2006 and 2009 in the five most popular districts.

District 19 is the most in demand landed housing location, followed by Districts 15, 28, 20 and 10.

The study conducted by Credo does not include Sentosa Cove (Singapore’s much exclusive landed housing locations) and the Good Class Bungalow Areas (GCBAs), and strata landed homes. The latter are usually built more intensively than conventional landed housing. They are hybrid housing structure with shared condo-type facilities like tennis courts and swimming pool.

While prices of terrace homes have fared relatively better compared to bungalows and semi-Ds, landed home prices in general have also appreciated steadily between 2006 and 2009 in the five districts. “For most districts and sub-classifications of landed, we are at the all-time peak in terms of prices,” said Karamjit Singh, managing director for Credo.

In most instances, price gains were attained in 2008 amid the general property slump.

Such resilience was attributed by agents to the relatively limited supply and stock of landed homes.

“There's a very strong desire on the part of many Singaporean households to upgrade to landed property, which is regarded as an emotionally satisfying form of housing to own because you actually own something very tangible on the ground rather than in the air,” said Mr. Singh.

The promotion of the government for larger families - with three or more children - has also driven more parents to consider having bigger homes with no less than four bedrooms.

“Many times you'll find terrace houses offer better value than large apartments and condos. A 2,000 sq ft 4-plus-1, brand-new freehold condo in Katong might costs $2.4 million. But you can probably buy an intermediate terrace for about $2 million and have a bigger gross floor area of 2,500 sq ft, with saleable area inclusive of car porches possibly exceeding 3,000 sq ft. And you could have as many as five bedrooms,” Mr. Singh said.

Terrace homes form the bulk of landed housing stock in Singapore, accounting for the lion's share or almost 60 percent of the total 1,552 caveats lodged this year for landed homes in the five hot spots.