lajia
19-05-12, 17:20
Im a cluster house lover and start this thread to share with fellow forumers that cluster house is worth considering...what I mentioned here is based on my knowledge and also my personal opinion. ... Of course, price and your preferences are some of the major considerations as well.
Two good articles you can read for references.
http://www.hotnewproperty.sg/fewer-cluster-homes-for-singapore-market
http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/property-management-news/2012/4/32718/ura-revises-guidelines-for-strata-landed-housing
Supply of cluster house/townhouse has been cut in condo development which make all pure cluster housing development into consideration for foreigners (can buy but needs LDAU's approval) if they want to buy. This of course is due to limited supply.
Cluster houses and some new terrace house development like Luxus Hills, Pavillion Pk for eg, are about 3 storey high plus attic or roof terrace. So if you have weak knees, this is out for you or from another angle, you don't always keep walking to your rooms right?? So it might still be ok for some as if you have big family, the different levels do offer privacy to a certain extent :)
I have seen Mont Timah, Seahill, The Woods, Wood Haven, Palm Isles, and some more (all cluster houses I viewed), and I have also seen those inter terrace landed. In terms of usable PSF, some say cluster house are so much smaller than normal terrace but when u think of it, how small is small? 4 storey (cluster house) compare to 3 storey (terrace) of course, the 4 storey one will be smaller size per level if we talk about similar size of builtin PSF. this one, it all depend on your preference, how big you want your living room to be, or how big you want your rooms to be and so on. But we should compare the builtin area if you are considering cluster house or terrace.
I would think pure cluster housing development offers more value. As mentioned above, as the supply of town houses are cut in condo development, if a foreigner were to consider buying such unit, then they might also consider pure cluster development due to limited choices but having said that, prior approval is required. Most town houses in condo development are selling at a very high price and purely because foreigner can easily buy. But if getting approval is not that difficult, would this still be a strong selling point that justify such high price? If you look at propertygiru, just for comparing sake,
(all new development lh99)
Woodhaven - $3mil (3.3k sqft). In Condo dev. North
Seahill - $4.5mil (3.5k sqft). In Condo dev. South West
The Woods - $1.9mil (4k sqft). Pure cluster. West
Palm isles - $2.6mil (3.7k sqft). Condo dev. East
If you have seen them all, then your choice might be very clear...:p
And compared to condo, even for OCR is talking about 1000psf or more, then obviously if you have a big family, pure cluster house is definetly better choice in terms of PSF(builtin) and assuming you want those facilities. And besides, you have 2 car Pk lots in most of the cases.
Just my personal views.....;)
Two good articles you can read for references.
http://www.hotnewproperty.sg/fewer-cluster-homes-for-singapore-market
http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/property-management-news/2012/4/32718/ura-revises-guidelines-for-strata-landed-housing
Supply of cluster house/townhouse has been cut in condo development which make all pure cluster housing development into consideration for foreigners (can buy but needs LDAU's approval) if they want to buy. This of course is due to limited supply.
Cluster houses and some new terrace house development like Luxus Hills, Pavillion Pk for eg, are about 3 storey high plus attic or roof terrace. So if you have weak knees, this is out for you or from another angle, you don't always keep walking to your rooms right?? So it might still be ok for some as if you have big family, the different levels do offer privacy to a certain extent :)
I have seen Mont Timah, Seahill, The Woods, Wood Haven, Palm Isles, and some more (all cluster houses I viewed), and I have also seen those inter terrace landed. In terms of usable PSF, some say cluster house are so much smaller than normal terrace but when u think of it, how small is small? 4 storey (cluster house) compare to 3 storey (terrace) of course, the 4 storey one will be smaller size per level if we talk about similar size of builtin PSF. this one, it all depend on your preference, how big you want your living room to be, or how big you want your rooms to be and so on. But we should compare the builtin area if you are considering cluster house or terrace.
I would think pure cluster housing development offers more value. As mentioned above, as the supply of town houses are cut in condo development, if a foreigner were to consider buying such unit, then they might also consider pure cluster development due to limited choices but having said that, prior approval is required. Most town houses in condo development are selling at a very high price and purely because foreigner can easily buy. But if getting approval is not that difficult, would this still be a strong selling point that justify such high price? If you look at propertygiru, just for comparing sake,
(all new development lh99)
Woodhaven - $3mil (3.3k sqft). In Condo dev. North
Seahill - $4.5mil (3.5k sqft). In Condo dev. South West
The Woods - $1.9mil (4k sqft). Pure cluster. West
Palm isles - $2.6mil (3.7k sqft). Condo dev. East
If you have seen them all, then your choice might be very clear...:p
And compared to condo, even for OCR is talking about 1000psf or more, then obviously if you have a big family, pure cluster house is definetly better choice in terms of PSF(builtin) and assuming you want those facilities. And besides, you have 2 car Pk lots in most of the cases.
Just my personal views.....;)