Shoebox apartments remain a trend in the country, with one out of seven homes sold last year being a shoebox unit.
According to analysis by property consultancy firm R’ST Research, home buyers snapped up 2,037 of such homes in 2011, including 138 shoebox units at Spottiswoode 18, 99 units at Skysuites@Anson and 79 units at The Interweave.
Including subsales and resale transactions, the figure stands at a record 2,400, attributed to eager home buyers looking for smaller apartments due to high property prices.
With a built-up area of up to 500 sq ft each, these units tend to cost less than S$1 million, which has made them a popular on the property market. Sales of these homes have increased seven times since 2008 and are 20 percent higher than in 2010. Several experts noted that most buyers were young single professionals or investors hoping to rent out the units.
Ong Kah Seng, Director at R’ST Research, said the huge number of new shoebox homes sold also reflects the increased number of launches. He noted that high land prices resulted in shoebox units being marketed by developers to bring adequate profit margins on the development.
“Many prior projects in 2009 and 2010 which offered small units were well received, reflecting the popularity of such projects,” he said.
“The success of shoebox apartments during the testbed years as well as limited restrictions on developing shoebox units resulted in the continued provision of shoebox units in new projects.”
Experts said smaller units will remain popular this year, with some units offered in new projects such as The Tennery, Seastrand (pictured) and EuHabitat.
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