How much do Houses cost in Singapore?

Singapore is one of the top tourist destinations in the world and millions of investors throng into Singapore year in year out for one business deal or the other. Of course, everyone needs a home and the Avenue South Residence stands tall as one of the newest developments in Singapore. If you are a foreign investor, you are likely to stay in Singapore for days or weeks before returning to your country. Sometimes, you may need to rent an apartment or lodge in a Hotel for several weeks or months. Lodging in the Hotel can be very pricey! Even if you are a Singapore local, you would need a new home once your family size or status changes. Nobody wants to spend money on rents forever; hence, if you are residing or planning to relocate to Singapore, there is a need to have a foreknowledge as per the cost of houses in Singapore.

This post adumbrates the average cost of houses in Singapore. This includes condos, BTO Flats, Executive and private condominiums, resale flats, etc.

Fretting and confusion are normal feelings that you will experience once you decide to buy your first house. Getting started is always the problem and you may not know how much it would cost you to buy the house. Don’t be perturbed, this article will brief you about the necessary steps and the projected cost implications in buying a new house in Singapore.

What are the projected expenses when planning to buy a House in Singapore?

While planning to buy a new House in Singapore, you should have in mind that the projected cost will depend on a number of factors and you should have several pertinent questions in mind too.. One of such factors is the condition of the house. Is it a new house? When was it built? When last was it renovated? Which amenities are situated close to it? Now, if the units are close to Amenity like the MRT Station, then the price is likely to hike. Therefore, Houses might be very expensive or cheap in some areas depending on these factors. For instance, the Affinity at Serangoon is just a 4-minutes walk from the MRT station and the prices are from 719k and above.

As at August last year, the cost of buying units in Singapore without grants were as follows:

	BTO Flats(Yet to Mature)	BTO Flats(Mature)	Resale Flats	Executive Condo	Private Condo
One room or Studio				$420k -$560k	$600- $700k
Two Rooms (Flex)	$90,000 -$162,000	$137,000 – $277,000		$640k – $720k	$800k – $900k
Three Rooms	$164k – $248k	$205k – $421k	$350k – $380k	$776k – $960k	$970k – $1.2M
Four Rooms	$253k – $381k	$311k – $617k	$420k – $550k	$1.12M – $1.4M	$1.4M – $1.8M
Five Rooms	$405k – $516k	$423k – $725k	$520k – $700k	$1.6M – $1.76m	$2M – $2.2M
Three Generation	Min. of $355k
Penthouse				Average $1.9M	Average $3M

Resale flats are more Pricey?

Yes, resale flats are more Pricey. I know you may be wondering why the resale flats tend to be more expensive than the BTO flats.This is because the value of landed property increases with time. There is no need to wait for the flat to be completed once you buy a resale flat. Once you buy, you start using it immediately unlike BTO where you are likely to wait for three to four years before completion. More so, resale flats are mostly situated in mature areas where they are situated close to major amenities. This underlines why the Mature BTOs are more expensive than the non-mature ones.

Premiums known as Cash over Valuation (COV) may be attached to the real price of the flats. The value of the Premium varies from place to place. Some places may have zero premium while some may have up to $50,000 Premium.

Prices of Private Condominiums and Executive Condominiums

The table above is for the price of private condos and it would be very high for condos that are close to top amenities like Orchard (District 9). Condos around Orchard are regarded as luxury houses. For instance, Riviere Condo is a fresh premium housing  project situated close to premium amenities and its price ranges between $1.5M and $5.3M. It is available in one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom (both deluxe and Premium), and four bedroom.

Normally, fresh executive condominiums are cheaper than old private condos by about 20%. Five years is the minimum occupancy period and once the executive condo is up to five years, the difference between its price and the price of a private condo will narrow down to 9%. Few years, it will narrow down to 5%. In summary, the price difference between a new executive condominium and a private condominium is 20%. The executive condo is cheaper in this case but the price difference will narrow to 9% when the executive condo is between 5 and 10 years.

What else will I pay for when I want to buy my first house?

It is very important to have in mind that you will make the following payments

1. Down payment of 5% if you are using a Private Bank Loan

For those that will pay through a private bank loan, they will be required to pay 25% of the entire cost of the overall price of the house as a down payment. A minimum of 5% of the down payment must be paid in cash while you can pay the leftover 20% with either cash or money from CPF OA. Make sure you use a Private Bank loan when paying for ECs.

1. Everything has to be legalized; hence, you have to pay the legal fees for some important services such as:

Conveyancing fees

Caveat registration fees

Stamp duty for agreement

According to the Inland revenue service of Singapore, the conveyancing fees for the initial $30,000 of the cost of the house is $0.90 per $1000. The next $30,000 of the cost of the property will accrue a conveyance fee of $0.72 per $1,000 while the remaining cost will accrue $0.60 per $1,000.

1. The cost of home insurance is between $45 and $700 yearly. Premium insurance plans will cover accidents, fire, personal assets, etc.
2. You’ll be required to pay for property tax and this depends on the annual value of your home, i.e the amount you will get yearly when you rent out your property. Simply get in contact with Singapore’s internal revenue Service to know the annual value for your Property.