Rentals of shoebox units could fall by five to ten per cent in the coming years due to an expected increase in supply, said property analysts. Shoebox units are small apartments - they include one-bedroom or studio units and are often bought as investments. About 6,200 shoebox units will be completed in the next two years. Property consultant SLP International said this is a record number - compared...
Small-sized Apartments
Buyers are being drawn to more affordable and smaller units following the government’s latest property cooling measures and stricter loan rules, according to a report from DTZ. During the second quarter, 2,571 buyers (38 percent) opted to buy homes below S$1 million, higher than the 1,835 buyers (31 percent) in the previous quarter. Purchases between S$1 million to S$1.5 million also increased to 33...
While “shoebox” flats have generally been attractive investments given their higher rental yields compared with other properties, analysts are warning that this may soon cease to be the case. Typically defined as units with a maximum floor size of 50 sq m, they have delivered an average gross rental yield of about 4.58 per cent so far this year, well above the 3.68 per cent that non-shoebox...
The hype over shoebox property units seems to have cooled down. Sales transactions in these small private apartments have fallen by 46 per cent in the second half of 2012. In the second half of 2012, some 1372 units were transacted compared to 2539 units in the first half of last year. Experts cited fewer launches as developers focus on building bigger units to meet demand. Still, analysts said there...
Sales of small private apartments, commonly known as shoebox units in Singapore, have taken a downward turn. Data compiled by analysts show that new sales fell about 57 per cent in September from the previous month to 99 units. The fall in the sale of shoebox units occured after the government announced that it will moderate the number of shoebox apartments entering the market. Analysts said buyers are...
The controversy surrounding shoebox units has spurred many diverse viewpoints in the past. And now a new report by Savills Research called “Shoebox units – Is small smart or is bigger better?” is championing the role such homes have in major cities around the world. According to Savills, homes as small as 250 sq ft can successfully meet demand for city centre living amongst young professionals, for...
The Government's long-awaited policy measure on "shoebox" apartments was finally announced this week and it has made far less of an impact than earlier feared. The new Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) guideline, kicking in on Nov 4, seeks to cap the number of shoebox units for projects in suburban areas based on a formula that stipulates that the average size of homes will need to be at least 70 sq...
The government is capping the total number of units that can be built on a site for non-landed private residential developments outside the Central Area. This will take effect from November 4 when new guidelines issued by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) take effect. The URA says the new guidelines will discourage developers from building new developments consisting mainly of shoebox units outside...
They might be the urban dwelling of the future: Studio apartments measuring no more than 28 sq m. New York City planners believe the tiny units could be the answer to a growing population of singles and two-person households. And in a nation that is increasingly populous and urbanised - where people are more frequently creating a family of one - such downsizing may not stop here. Mayor Michael Bloomberg...
Prices of small apartments measuring up to 506 sq ft dipped slightly by 1.2 percent in April, according to the Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) flash estimate published by the Institute of Real Estate Studies at NUS. This is in sharp contrast to March, when the SRPI sub-index for small apartments saw a notable 2.7 percent rise. April’s overall SRPI inched up 0.8 percent from the previous...