Condos hit a sweet spot even without a tennis court
Business Times - 6 Feb 2010
New homes going for as much as $2,600 per square foot can offer designer furnishings and place you in a coveted district, but they may no longer come with large common spaces or even tennis courts traditionally associated with a private address.
Nowadays, ‘you don’t really get developments with sprawling grounds, where there’s openness’, observes DTZ executive director Ong Choon Fah. ‘Those are actually more difficult to come by.’
As it becomes harder to find prime projects offering large ground spaces and complete facilities, existing developments with these features are likely to stand out. ‘One of the reasons why Ardmore Park is so popular is because it has a beautiful landscaped garden, and the grounds are sprawling. You don’t get many of these, these days,’ says DTZ’s Mrs Ong
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So luxury homes now have next-to-no facilities... and probably a clear view of their neighbour's bedroom, too. I have seen windows mere spitting distance apart. No privacy, no wind, no light. Some luxury condominiums in the city don't even have a parking space for each unit.
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Tampines Court may not have the facilities - but that does not mean it can't aspire to have them. We have plenty of space - enough for a swimming pool and 3 tennis courts, we even have a section labelled 'wilderness' by the MC where there's nothing but trees. But I don't think a swimming pool is possible with the make up of our residents. They have rejected it twice before at AGMs so it is probably a non-starter. Nevermind, Tampines Courters should understand they have the luxury of space - and learn to appreciate it. In fact, not having a swimming pool keeps our costs down and the monthly maintenance fee very reasonable - on par with HDB actually. We can carve a niche out for ourselves in simpler ways - landscaping and a gym perhaps. Very soon, when all the big estates have gone the way of the dodo - Tampines Court will come into it's own. Families with children, maids and mother-in-laws in tow can't squeeze into these modern glass shoe boxes and anyone who visits our sleepy estate will think they've hit the jackpot. Permanent Residents, soon to be partially-locked out of the HDB resale market if you believe the newspaper reports, will have no choice but to turn to estates such as ours - lower-end private estates in convenient locations. Even without facilities, we can command ever increasingly higher prices - and don't believe the nay-sayers when they say our value will drop.
Hopefully, after the repainting, retiling and new letterboxes etc, owners will want to plonk down another $100k on landscaping to make TC the Ardmore Park of the east! I am going to push for this at the next AGM. Plants, we want lots of beautiful tropical plants, please!
But remember; developers, flippers, desperado's and the government are all out to rob you of your paid-up 'luxury' estate..... (in case you have forgotten:- we are only 560 units in a site area of 702,162 sqft). I don't know when they will come round again, but they will.
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I said something along the same lines in a post 2 yrs ago
here .
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Sunday Times - 7 Feb 2010
An industry observer pointed out that most developers are running out of land for mass market projects, so they are very keen to buy.
Now that resale prices are moving up, more people are worried that they cannot get a similar replacement property, explained a consultant who declined to be named.
Still, the problem is the gap between buyers and sellers’ expectations.
So, owners now understand it is about replacement and not mythical money in the bank (or all locked up in CPF). Nothing less than 1-for 1 exchange should be demanded.
