Nine shoebox units were put up for mortgagee sale in 2014, according to a report by Colliers International.
These small units at various locations such as Geylang, Woodlands, and Haig Road are generally priced below $1 million.
Considering there were no mortgagee listings for shoebox units in the past four years, the report said this notable trend reflects the widespread effects of the cooling measures and tightened credit rules.
Colliers International’s Director of Auction and Sales Annie Chan said, “Besides singles and couples with no kids, investors are also drawn to shoebox apartments due to their relatively-affordable price quantum.”
However, investors who are servicing multiple loans may have faced difficulties in the increasingly-competitive leasing market.
“As such, those who are unable to secure tenants or have been hard-pressed to accept lower rents may find it a stretch to service their mortgage. This may then result in default in their monthly mortgage payments,” she added.
Although there is no official definition on the size of shoebox apartments, they are generally characterised by a space of less than 50 sq m or 538 sq ft. These units garnered strong interest in recent years as they were seen to promise high capital gains and rental returns.
In 2012, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced new guidelines to cap the number of shoebox units, especially for those in suburban areas.
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
Now that I have moved into yet another spanking new shoebox apartment, decorating and fixing stuff up from scratch, let me share some tips on living up the space to the fullest. 1. Go multi-purpose, multi-function Where space comes at a premium, every inch counts. You want to buy stuff that can perform dual, triple or more roles. Ikea has a lot of ready to use examples. Daybed - sofa, bed, storage rolled into one. Side table with storage. Removable cover is also a serving tray. Pot holder, doubles up as table cloth. Chopping board, doubles up as placemats. Multi-cooker, steam, boil, cook rice at one go. Available in qoo10. Multi-function scissor - knife, scissors, can opener 2. Make use of vertical space Hangs over doors Fix a drop leaf table to the wall. Mount two heavy duty hooks onto the wall on either side of the table to hang up both folding chairs when not in use. 3. Foldable, stackable, nestable pieces save
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