Shoebox units make up 27% of new sales

Those tiny homes known as shoebox apartments now account for more than a quarter of private home sales, a big jump from about 15 per cent late last year.

The latest figures, for the first quarter of the year, show that 1,764 shoebox units were sold, representing about 27 per cent of the 6,526 private home sales.

Across the market, 42 per cent of new sales in the quarter were priced below $750,000. Many of these units are in the suburbs, with a hefty 82 per cent of all new unit sales outside the central region.

The increase in prices of uncompleted non-landed properties is probably due to smaller units sold with higher per square foot prices.

The median size of units in new mass market launches has dived from 980 sq ft in the second quarter of 2011, to 710 sq ft in the first quarter of this year.

Median per sq ft (psf) price in the first quarter was $1,102, while it was $949 in the second quarter of last year.

Property consultants said that HDB upgraders are the main buyers of shoebox units, which tend to be cheaper in terms of the overall price.

Source: The Straits Times – 28 April 2012