I have been watching with bemused fascination the return of crowds to the launch of new properties. There is a complete disconnect between the business press reporting about the economic crisis, and the reality of mob scenes at show flats and mall openings.
What is even more disturbing however is what people are buying. The size of the flats that are being marketed are absurdly small. Instead of looking at the utility of the space being offered, buying is reportedly based only on the total price.
This leads to some really bizarre outcomes - in order to keep the total price below 1 million dollars (which is supposed to be an acceptable price), flat sizes are shrinking. At the same time, the use of balconies, air con ledges, and planters is reducing the usable area dramatically.
I am unfortunate to have a number of construction projects surrounding my building, and I have been watching the erection of what can only be described as pigeon holes. Pre-cast concrete slabs are dropped into place by crane, allowing completion of floors in record time. I don't see where the structural integrity comes from, and I certainly wouldn't want to be in one of these structures if an earthquake hit.
One building nearby called the Vida has recently been completed and is being marketed as a luxury building. Driving by at night, I was struck by how much the place looked like a stack of squash courts. The flats have floor to ceiling glass walls, like a squash court, and appear to be roughly the same size.
Intrigued, I decided to check the facts. According to the World Squash Federation, the dimensions of a regulation squash court are 9.75m by 6.4m, yielding 62.4 square metres. For those more comfortable in square feet, this is 671 square feet. Since there are no balconies, aircon ledges or planters, a squash court is really 671 sq feet of usable space.
Looking at the marketing materials for the Vida on their web site, it appears that a 1 bedroom apartment is 517-527 square feet - with aircon ledges and other encumbrances. This is actually considerably smaller smaller than a squash court!
Another way of looking at this is that a standard 40' shipping container is 12.036m by 2.35m giving 28.28 square metres or 304 square feet.
And how much does one pay for the privilege of living in less space than a squash court?
The last transaction listed on the Singapore government property website shows a price of S$1,175,210, yielding the seller S$2,228 per square foot.
I wish I could offer some sage insight to what this all means.
I do know that a squash court or a shipping container is not a home, nor is it a suitable place to raise a family. Even a single individual living in such a small space is going to go stir crazy pretty quickly. The breakdown in family structures can only be accelerated by isolating people in tiny cubes.
This is not housing, this is storage.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Singapore - Becoming a nation of high-rise squash courts
All contents copyright whanafi
posted Saturday, August 08, 2009 Labels: housing, Singapore, URA, Vida
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4 comments:
I totally agree with you...
Those "specuinvestors" don't even know what the hell they are buying...
Who in their right mind would pay S$3-4k per month to live in a squash court sized apartment?
More importantly, how many can afford to pay such high prices? Expats? Don't think so - a lot of them are now on local terms...
I have lived in Sydney and for A$1200/month, I can get a 600sqf apartment just 10 mins outside of town...
Agreed.
My peers are all buying one development or another and urged me to do the same. But I'm not doing so for one simple reason - my old 5-room HDB bedroom is twice the size of a condo's!
When I visit private apartments the claustrophobic space really gets to me and the layouts are getting more and more illogical. Even if HDB housing is usually the same boring layout, it beats having an ill-conceived one where you can't tell where the doorway ends and the kitchen starts.
Well, let's put this in perspective:
JAPAN has flats of 25 m2, living there might let you think that the W.C. talks to you.
The fact that SGP and JPN are getting small in comparison with their population and the appetite of condos/flats have no end.
A flat in Florida right now, close to the beach is sold at 300 US$/sqf
Living in such a small place make you wonder if you should buy a "wilson" ball and start talking to him.
...and I certainly wouldn't want to be in one of the (neighbouring) structures if an earthquake hit...
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