Originally Posted by
howgozit
For renovations, don't forget that new apartments need some doing up as well however little. Basic fittings, lightings, curtains, painting...etc adds to costs. A resale may only need a re-paint or even just a minor re-decoration.
So a resale may not be necessarily cost more to render it into a rentable/livable condition, many times in fact I have found it to in fact cost less. Furthermore a resale is immediately available to capitalise returns.
I am most puzzled about the big gap which is in excess of 33%. Where is the upside for those who buy new launches? By the time these people want to (or have to) sell, the properties are considered resale and they have to compete against their neighbours which are a third cheaper at the time of purchase. Where is their bargaining power?
My conclusion is that these people buying these new launch OCR condos at these ridiculous prices are going in blindly. Its the Asian "Kiasu" mentality at work. Everyone wants to get in on the action regardless of the unreasonable mark-up by the developers
It's a set-up for a bubble that is being staved-off by a low interest and high employment rate environment.