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A condominium touted as Singapore's first retirement village was sold out on its first day of sale. Despite concerns about The Hillford's shorter 60-year lease, buyers - both young and old - snapped up all 281 apartments.
SINGAPORE: A condominium touted as Singapore's first retirement village was sold out on its first day of sale.
Despite concerns about The Hillford's shorter 60-year lease, buyers - both young and old - snapped up all 281 apartments.
By 9am on Friday, The Hillford showflat at Upper Bukit Timah was already crowded with some 1,000 prospective buyers.
Within the first one-and-a-half hours, more than 80 units were already sold. That is 30 per cent of what is available.
The project has been marketed as a "retirement resort" for active seniors with elderly-friendly facilities and commercial space set aside for health care and elder care.
But with the condo located near the upcoming Beauty World MRT station in Bukit Timah, seniors were not the only ones interested.
This is despite the smaller flats and shorter 60-year lease. Private properties in Singapore usually have a 99-year lease or are freehold.
Analysts said The Hillford's popularity shows people are receptive to properties with a shorter lease.
Chris Koh, director of Chris International, said: "For many, at the end of the day it's the price. If it's affordable, and the quantum is low, you can see they're willing to buy."
But there are concerns that the facilities for the elderly may not materialise if there are too many young buyers.
A lot will depend on the property's management body, which will be made up of residents, said Mr Koh.
He said: "They must remember the essence of this village. It's for the elderly, for retirement, and they should not just change it overnight to cater to the youngsters who live in the project."
Christine Li, head of research and consultancy at OrangeTee, said: "In order to make this retirement concept more meaningful, there could be some restrictions, such as the age of the buyer, as well as some resale restrictions."
Sales figures are still being worked out, but the developer World Class Land said it expects a "substantial proportion" of buyers to be over 50 years old.
- CNA/xq
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this shows that there are still a lot of people waiting to buy if the price is reasonable and location is good...
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ya 1,000 prospective buyers for a 281 units project.
so many waiting at the sidelines
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just go to show this 60yrs lease is show pcs for savvy and news it generate that property is still hot so long its affordable. As the writer clear said young people buying into retirement home for elderly?
Isnt it obvious all over the world you need certain age and economic condition to be eligible for this kind home!
It just goes to show this is a gimmick to mock those who feel property is about to collapse. What a boost to property market dying for another idea to cash in on 60yrs lease! What next 30yrs lease, so better buy into the next 60yrs lease project?
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19-01-2014, 11:09 AM
(This post was last modified: 19-01-2014, 11:10 AM by AndrewHW.)
I agree there are a lot of people waiting at the sidelines, but I do believe their impact on prices is not up but down over time. Let's see what happens over the next 3 years.
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@chialc88: I don't really have a strong opinion on the amount of drop. Perhaps 20-30% like you said. But more importantly today there seemed to be no more crazy rush to buy properties in anticipation of gains. If people are still expecting a repeat of the recent gain, they will be in for a surprised.
@weijian: History may or may not repeat itself but already property prices are overextended for some time now so something is bound to happen. I don't have a crystal ball that says how soon or how much it will drop but like it said to chialc88, there seemed to be no more crazy rush to buy properties in anticipation of gains. So if someone is looking to buy for investment, it's much better to wait it out until SIBOR is back to a more reasonable levels where most of the weak long would have already given up. For myself, I will consider to buy a property by 2017 so staying on the sideline now and i'm sure prices will be lower then. If not, it will still be about today's level so either way it is better off to wait.
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