Buying houses in Singapore – house buyers’ guide

The mixed use development of Sentosa Cove is pretty much the last word in luxury homes in Singapore right now. Covering a land area of 117 ha, the bulk of which is reclaimed land, Sentosa Cove is home to Singapore’s first and only exclusive gated marina community inspired by the renowned waterfront resorts and towns in the Mediterranean, Australian Gold Coast and Southern California but modified to feature tropical architecture.

This luxury estate will comprise some 2,500 99-year leasehold homes in the form of oceanfront villas, waterway bungalows, hillside mansions and upscale condominiums when completed in 2010. Landed homes here are the only ones for which foreign ownership is allowed in Singapore. Elsewhere in Singapore, foreign ownership of landed properties is allowed only subject to approval by the Ministry of Law upon meeting certain conditions.

A number of the project’s constituent parts have been completed. Some 300 homes, including the 200-unit The Berth by the Cove condominium have already been handed over. The finished project will sit on a massive 117-ha site and is coming close to becoming the idyllic waterfront enclave which was conceived as early as the 1980′s. The long-awaited project has proved every bit as attractive as its developers have hoped, with 99.6 per cent of all land parcels available for sale in Sentosa Cove now sold to private developers and individuals. Between them, they are expected to yield over 2,000 condominium units and 400 bungalows and terraces.

Not least among the project’s attractive features are the expected rental yields; contracted monthly gross rents are believed to range between $4,700 for a 2-bedroom unit to as high as $12,250 for a 4-bedroom unit for condominium developments and between $12,000 and $30,000 per unit for the landed homes.

However, the leasing market for non-landed homes appeared to be significantly more active than for landed homes. With 46 leasing contracts recorded for The Berth by the Cove, this sole completed condominium development accounted for the lion’s share of the 51 leases signed between January 2007 and April 2008.

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