SINGAPORE - No official statistics are available on vacancy rates in individual completed condominium projects. But BT's lensmen put together a snapshot of "dark condos" in Singapore when they photographed a selection of projects between 8pm and 9.30pm on weekdays in the last week of May, before the start of the school holidays - and it's a telling picture.
Nine of the 10 projects featured here were completed, that is, received Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP), between January and September last year. The 10th, Hilltops, was completed in 2011.
While a rise in vacancies can be seen as overcapacity reflecting a ramp-up in completions since last year and fervent property investment demand post-global crisis, other factors may also be at play for specific projects.
The 10 projects photographed are mostly in the Core Central Region, though a few are in city-fringe or suburban areas.
While the developments have a fair proportion of dark, or apparently unoccupied, units, the degree varies, as do the likely causes.
In a few cases, high vacancy is linked to low or even zero sales. In most cases, however, even where the condos had a high sales rate or were completely sold, there is sometimes noticeable vacancy.
In some cases, this may be due to a substantial time lag - as long as eight months in one case - between the project's TOP date and the handover of units to buyers as developers continued to add the finishing touches to meet the expectations of well-heeled buyers.
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