Strata Landed vs Landed Properties: Is Strata Landed is the next hidden Gem?

Updated: Jan 27, 2022

Owning a landed property in Singapore is the aspirations of many in Singapore. However, it has a certain level of prestige and exclusiveness attached to landed living.

Why choose landed Property?

Price Potential

According to the 1st Quarter 2021, the Property Price index in Singapore has risen 3.3% in the 1st Quarter of 2021. Comparatively, prices of landed properties have increased by 6.7% over the same period. This indicates that the demand for landed property has increased significantly, especially during this period of the pandemic.

Landed properties are also seen as a safe place to park assets. Given the increase in stock markets for the past year despite the pandemic, investors may decide to switch their asset class to safe-haven assets. For high net worth clients, the land is a safe bet given the historical performance and scarcity. With only over 70,000 landed private homes in Singapore. In comparison, there are over 1.4 million condos and public housing in Singapore. That means that there are only 5% of the total properties belong to the landed category.

Why landed?

One of the reasons why landed ha increase in demand is due to the desire for bigger dwellings. With more people working from home due to the pandemic, the need for personal space has increased. Landed Properties usually comes with bigger square feet compared to 4-5 Bedrooms in Condo developments. Bedrooms tend to be bigger, and there is a private outdoor space for owners to enjoy. Moreover, you have free rein in the landed design, and you do not have to pay maintenance or parking fees for landed property.

Landed vs Strata Landed

Given the scarcity and the increased demand, it is not surprising to see landed prices increasing in tandem. Here is the average asking price for new landed (Freehold) in Singapore

Terrace Houses - SGD 3.8m

Semi D - SGD 5m

Detached - SGD 7m

GCB - Above SGD 20m

Given the price range, it would not be surprising that buyers would consider the alternative to landed- Strata Landed.

Differances between Strata Title Landed and Landed Properties

Strata landed are landed properties build with communal facilities. They are sometimes known as cluster houses or townhouses. There are 4 main differences between strata landed and landed.

1 Strata Title vs Land Title

Landed houses come with a land title. That means you own the land that your home sits on. You can opt to tear it down and do a complete rebuild if you need to. For Strata houses, you own the strata airspace similar to a condominium. As you do not own the rights to the land, you cannot tear it down as you wish.

2 Facilities

For those who prefer condo facilities such as a large pool, gym, large outdoor spaces and good size accommodations, Strata houses would be the perfect marriage of both facilities and space. Comparatively, you could have the same facilities in your landed property, albeit on a smaller scale ( unless you purchase a GCB).

3 Maintenances

Along with facilities, Strata landed comes with Managing Agent (MA). This means that all aspects of the exterior of the houses and facilities would be taken care of. There is no need for you to worry about the building facade, the maintenance of pavements, gardening and so forth.

To enjoy these, Strata owners would need to service maintenance fee as well as sinking fund. This is similar to a condominium. While landed property need not fork out these monthly expenses, they are responsible for maintaining their own property. In some cases, the expenses may even be more than maintenance fees. For example, a typical exterior paint job could easily cost up to $20,000. Thus for landed property owners, they would need to be self-discipline and keep aside funds for maintenance. Other than the need to save up for rainy days, landed property owners would need to upkeep their own properties daily.

4 Price Point

The upside of Strata Landed vs Pure landed would be the price. If we compare interior living sizes to landed properties in the same area, strata landed owners would usually get more bang for the buck. Even in the same condo where there is a mix of strata landed and normal condo units, the psf of the strata landed would usually be cheaper than the normal condo units.