Shoebox apartments – affordable total quantum price, relatively easy to rent and maintain, limited numbers. That used to be the case when these small units were first marketed a couple of years ago. But as developers caught onto the small apartments trend and churned out more of these units, their numbers have increased significantly.
Parc Centros private condominium on Punggol Walk.
By 2017, the number of these shoebox apartments with floor area of approximately 500 sq ft, will rise by another 700. Instead of being mostly concentrated in the city and prime districts, they will now be in the Hougang, Punggol and Sengkang areas in residential projects such as A Treasure Trove, Bartley Residences, The [email protected], Parc Centros, River Isles, [email protected] and La Fiesta.
Expatriates are usually keen on renting out properties near their workplace, usually near the Central Business District. But as businesses are moving out into the various regional commercial hubs, so may their search for rental properties. What may however be deterring them from renting out these small studio apartments could be the rental prices.
Rental prices of small studio apartment are now at $2,000 to $2,200 per month, down from $2,600 in 2013. These prices are now nearing that of renting out an entire HDB flat, which could prove to draw tenants away from the private property rental market. Could this then in turn increase the demand for resale HDB flat?
