Imagine an exclusive neighborhood with tree lined streets, manicured lawns, spacious backyards and the privacy of having four walls to yourself. All of these come with buying your very own Singapore Bungalow.
Everybody knows that land is expensive in the land-limited citya state. Most other residents, visitors, expats have to live in flats, apartments and condos. Living in a bungalow in Singapore exudes a certain luxury considering that there are roughly only around 1,000 good class bungalows located all around Singapore.
Aside from exclusivity, buying Singapore bungalows are very good long term investments. Bungalow sales have fared well even during hard financial times compared to midtown modern sky bungalow other housing projects and property values. Over the years, very good financial gains have been reported by bungalow owners who have decided to sell their properties.
Bungalow owners are also enjoying the plot of land that comes with their properties. Good class bungalows should have a minimum plot of 1,400 sqm. This gives owners and their families a lot of room to play and run around with. Another restriction for bungalow owners is that there has to be an adequate amount of grass and greenery around the property. This stipulation is to adhere to environmental laws that aim to preserve the ambiance of healthy living amidst Singapore's urban jungle.
In addition to this, bungalows are either single storey homes or two storey houses. The height restriction is again to preserve the low-rise and residential feel of bungalow neighborhoods.
One of the advantages of buying and owning a bungalow is that it gives the owners a lot of room for future extensions. Bungalows can be easily remodeled and renovated because of the large space available to owners. Extensions can either be a new wing or a new floor or even a swimming pool. Because of the lot size allotted to bungalows, a garden is also a very good idea. Improved and maintained bungalows can easily fetch higher resale values, another motivation for bungalow owners to care for their properties.
Singapore law states that only citizens can own landed property, including bungalows in the city-state. But there are a lot of bungalow owners who lease and rent out their properties to foreigners, companies, expats, corporations and even fellow citizens. This is another advantage of buying and owning bungalows because it is one of the more sought after properties for renting, making it a potential money making venture for its owner. Indeed, the current rental on bungalows around the city-state averages in the 5 figure category.
Very few of these protected areas exist in Singapore today. Only about 39 designated areas for Good Class Bungalows or GCBs have been designated by the government as protected areas for these types of housing developments. These Areas are Nassim Road, Belmont Park, Cluny Hill and Raffles Park. There are around 2,500 GCBs around the Singapore and of the millions of Singaporeans only about 1,000 citizens own bungalows in these designated areas. The Singaporean Government has no plans in the future to add to these exclusive areas, further raising the value on the current bungalows around the city-state.
For people who do not live or have not been to Singapore, they might ask what the fuss is all about Singapore bungalows. In a country where land is a commodity, and owning a bungalow does not only scream wealth, it also says luxury. Singapore bungalows are far and few in between so if you happen to own one, consider yourself one of the lucky few who have made it in life.