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Cluster homes are in that weird spot between landed housing and condos. On the one hand, they’re landed; on the other hand, you still have an MCST, and common facilities. But next to walk-up apartments, this may be one of the least studied and understood housing segments: besides being relatively few in number, they tend to have small unit counts with more volatile pricing. This week, we took a look at how these rare properties have been performing: From 2013 to the present, freehold cluster homes have seen an average gain of 2.26 per cent. As we mentioned above, however, these units are not common, and 1,760 transactions over 10 years is a very low number.  Nonetheless, let’s contrast this against leasehold cluster homes: The average performance is slightly inferior to freehold counterparts, coming in at an average of close to 2.15 per cent. However, we’re still working with low transaction volumes, with just 1,582 transactions over the past decade. When leasehold properties are down to 60 years or fewer, banks often lower the maximum loan amount; the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio may be reduced to 55 per cent from 75 per cent, resulting in a much higher cash outlay. This could drive prices down, especially since landed homes tend to be bigger and fetch a higher quantum. Some realtors have also opined that older leasehold landed properties are harder to sell. Most landed property buyers are looking for intergenerational assets, rather than something with 60 or fewer years on the lease. Evidence for this is anecdotal though, and the sentiment for such homes may be different as compared to true landed homes. After all, the appeal of a cluster home is the bigger space and landed living at a more affordable (and less maintenance) price. When we look at average annualised returns, we might see some confirmation of realtors’ claims. The top 11 entries, from Chateau La Salle to Solaris Residences, are all freehold, 999-years, or some variation thereof. Conversely, the bottom of the table has more leasehold cluster landed homes, such as Gambier Court, Hillsta, and Eleven @ Holland. It is, however, tough to generalise further. Notice that many of the projects only have a single transaction, which makes prices volatile: if the previous transaction had special reasons (e.g., an urgent sale, or a buyer picking a final home with no intent of resale), this will significantly skew the price of the transaction that comes right after it.  In addition to this, cluster housing projects can have very unique quirks. Chateau La Salle is a good example of this: this project only has six units, and whilst floor plans are unavailable, the last transaction was for a unit of over 4,800 sq.ft., whilst way back in 2001 there was a record of an 11,923 sq.ft. unit being bought here. Buyers can’t really find this elsewhere.  As another example, Gambier Court is a 23-unit within the Robertson Quay area in District 9. It’s also a freehold project dating back to 1999, which suffers by contrast – it’s often expected that a District 9 condo will be freehold, which may explain the lower profitability of a 25-year-old leasehold unit here.  These cluster housing projects were the most expensive: Unsurprisingly, freehold cluster homes make up the majority due to their premium pricing. Bishopsgate Residences is a bit of a shocker with that price tag, but this is a Kajima project – this developer was also involved with Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Financial Centre, hence the exorbitant price tag. The 31-unit project is also close to the cluster of foreign embassies near the Grange Road area, so it may be targeted at the likes of ambassadors and dignitaries, or those who may rent to them. These cluster housing projects were the cheapest: Northshore Bungalows and Sungrove are probably eye-openers for the low price. For Northshore, this is due to its location at Punggol Point back in 1995. This was before any of the amenities at Punggol today existed. Waterway Point was only finished 21 years after this condo was built, and it was about the same time before there was an LRT stop. So it was launched at very low prices given the poor accessibility and lack of amenities, but you could expect it to rise in the coming years. For Sun Grove, you can for a bit more on this West Coast landed area. This is another example of an area that was undesirable in the ‘90s, as there was poor accessibility and amenities. The area is heavily improved today, but it’s still one of the most affordable places to buy a landed property. As such, these projects are better suited for own-stay use. For resale gains, condos tend to be more predictable. Cluster homes are angled at homeowners who like landed living, but cannot handle serious maintenance issues like roofing, repainting the facade, or building their own pool.  For more on the Singapore property market, and how prices are moving in various property segments, follow us on .