Originally Posted by
Talk properly
There is no need to use such vulgar language. Look how's the uncouth one here?
From what I know, most of the residents staying at Hillview are 2nd generation with parents staying in Bukit Timah - just ask around. HDB upgraders usually prefer condos near MRT and HDB amenities. In terms of rental, one should always look at rental YIELD, i.e. rental as a % of your capital value. I could see you're not particularly financial savvy. From a yield perspectively, currently, the prime properties are the ones fetching miserble yields of 2% or so. For example, if you buy say Parc Infinia at 1400psf for a 1000 sq ft unit 2 bedder, the rental you could get is perhaps US$3500. This translates to a miserable yield of 3%. If you can rent out 3 bedder that cost you $820k in Hillview at $3k, the yield is easily 4.5%. To evaluate investments properly, one should always look at the returns relative to the amount you invest in.
In terms of capital appreciation, it all depends on which reference point you're looking at. If you're looking at recent data, I'm sure the capital appreciation exceeds that of prime property which is already on the downtrend. For instance, if you purchase Parc Infinia at Q1'2007, the capital appreciation from Q1'2007 to Q2'2008 is ZERO. However if you were to buy suburban condo in Q1'2007 at $480psf, you're likely to have capital gains in the region of 30%. So it depends on when you enter the market. One of the greatest folly is to "chase" the trend blindly, i.e. go around buying prime properties down when everything is indicating a downtrend.
As for living in the centre of the city, not everyone like to stay in the midst of the city. You have to respect others who prefer to stay somewhere near the nature reserves. MRT station will come to the Hillview area. I agree Parc Palais is too far from the station, but some other condos in Hillview should be within walking distance.
At the end of the day, there is no need to pepper a simple post with "blardy" this "blardy" that. It doesn't reflect very well on your upbringing. In many ways, I'm glad you're not staying in this area, which is perhaps too cultured for your liking. It is ironical that you're calling people "low class" and "uncouth" when from your usual style of talking below, it appears that you're the more uncouth person here.