Luxury condo or landed house? A local homebuyer has sound reasons to buy prime condos

Luxury condo or landed house? A local homebuyer has sound reasons to buy prime condos

The right apartment unit can make a great home and investment for a wealthy Singaporean

Leslie Yee
The Business Times

Nov 10, 2025

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opi...y-prime-condos

One privilege locals enjoy in the private housing market here is the ability to buy a landed home.

Generally, a foreigner cannot buy a landed home in the Republic. A foreigner seeking to buy a landed home here needs to seek approval under the Residential Property Act.

Each applicant is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Factors considered include being a permanent resident (PR) of Singapore for at least five years and making exceptional economic contribution to the city-state.

Among private properties, the stock of private landed homes – unlike that of non-landed homes – has hardly grown. The number of apartments and condos excluding executive condos rose by 36.2 per cent from 255,456 in Q4 2015 to 348,043 in Q3 2025. Over this period, the stock of landed homes increased by 2.3 per cent from 71,992 to 73,613.

Given the scarcity of landed homes and hardly any new supply in the government land sales programme, is it a no-brainer for a local home buyer spending S$20 million or more to choose a prime detached house over a luxury condo unit?

For a price of over S$20 million, one could buy, for instance, a newly built freehold detached house in District 10 with land area of around 7,000 square feet (sq ft), built-in of close to 10,000 sq ft and eight bedrooms; instead of buying a condo unit at 21 Anderson.

Developed by Kheng Leong, the freehold 21 Anderson, near Orchard Road, has 18 units including 14 four-bedroom units of 4,489 sq ft each. A check on the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s data on Nov 7 showed transactions for nine units at between S$21 million and S$24 million, or S$4,672 per square foot (psf) to S$5,347 psf.

Arguably, there are sound reasons for a local to choose a high-end condo over a detached house.

Foreign interest

One, don’t discount the buying power of foreigners driving demand for luxury condo homes going forward.

Singapore has been growing strongly as a wealth management hub, with more family offices setting up here.

Subject to meeting eligibility criteria, established business owners, next-generation business owners, founders of fast growth companies and family office principals may apply for PR status through the Global Investor Programme.

Should Singapore’s appeal as a wealth management hub and a global business city continue to grow, expect the Republic to draw more high-earning as well as wealthy new PRs. A PR buying a first home pays 5 per cent additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) versus zero ABSD for a Singapore citizen first homebuyer and 60 per cent ABSD for a non-PR foreigner buying any home here.

However, under respective free trade agreements, nationals and PRs of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, as well as US nationals, enjoy the same stamp duty treatment as Singapore citizens.

Perhaps more wealthy Americans might take advantage of paying no ABSD for a first home to buy luxury apartments here. This is particularly as the greenback may weaken against the Singapore dollar.

A recent DBS report projects the Singdollar could reach parity with the US dollar by 2040.

The Singdollar is well-supported by the Republic’s stability and sound fiscal position. An appreciating Singdollar will raise the appeal of the city-state’s physical property to foreigners.

Smaller household sizes

Two, the generally much larger built-in area that a detached house offers versus a luxury condo unit could be of little value to some wealthy locals.

Today, the trend in Singapore leans towards smaller household sizes and not multi-generational living.

The average household size among resident households in landed properties was 4.13 persons in 2024 versus 4.39 persons in 2010 and 4.65 persons in 2000.

Sure, an eight-bedroom house offers a couple living with grown-up children generous space for living, working and playing. Such a house may also be great for entertainment.

However, could much of the above house becomes a white elephant when grown-up children move out to into their own homes and the amount of home entertainment drops off as the couple ages?

Maybe, many wealthy locals will find a premium apartment unit to be more future-proof than a prime landed property. And getting a home that is fit for purpose for the long term matters as transaction costs to trade homes are high even for a local first home buyer paying zero ABSD. For one thing, the buyer’s stamp duty for a S$20 million home totals about S$1.14 million.

Right luxury condo

Three, the best condo developments can command a premium.

Being near Orchard Road helps. Among the condos in that vicinity, a select few developments with strong concepts might stand out as the homes of choice for well-heeled and discerning buyers.

Perhaps 21 Anderson can make its mark in the luxury condo scene. The project offers large-format units, with its four-bedders generously sized at about three times that of four-bedders in many new condo projects. Besides boasting a strong design and premium finishings, the project has exclusivity given the small number of units and also generous provision of car park spaces.

The latest hike in ABSD rates for buying homes hit non-PR foreigners particularly hard. The ABSD rate for this group of buyers doubled from 30 to 60 per cent.

Unsurprisingly, condo demand in the Core Central Region (CCR) or prime districts was hit hard by the latest ABSD hikes as non-PR foreigners have traditionally been a key source of condo buying in prime districts.

However, recently, local buyers have driven strong sales at new CCR condo launches such as River Green in the River Valley vicinity and Skye at Holland in the Holland Village area. And private non-landed home prices as at Q3 have risen faster in the CCR than other regions compared with a year earlier.

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For top of range condos in the CCR such as 21 Anderson, home buying interest is evident too.

Might developers continue pushing the envelope to build even luxurious condos? After all, buyers may be fine paying higher psf prices for the right product.

Ultimately, a wealthy local home buyer could be vindicated in choosing the right luxury condo unit over a prime landed home.