There has always been a confusion weather to buy a condo or ECs. After all, both have its pros and cons and buyers are sometimes undecided weather to buy a condo or an EC. Especially when the market is slightly less than ideal, buyers may be looking for city fringe or suburban condos such as Parc Riviera near to Clementi as the outlay potential is lesser and also the rental potential maybe there as it is near to many shopping centres and academic institutions.

Buying Parc Riviera Condo

There are a few points when considering to buy a private condo or EC which are rental income and upside capital gain potential. As in order condos, Parc Riviera by EL Development has a higher upside potential given that condos have always been better in performance as any new MRT stations or new business centres near the development will see price increase significantly. On the other land, Parc Riviera condo is more liquid as it is a condo and does not have buying or selling restrictions unlike ECs where there must be a family nucleus in order to buy.

Parc Riviera Advantages

However, there is another school of thought in the sense that since buyers are already buying ECs at subsidized prices and on top of that, there is CPF Housing Grant, it is noted that buying ECs will be much better considering that upside potential is almost guaranteed. However, the fact the ECs are usually located at outlying areas in Singapore and not near the MRT would mean that upside potential is limited and may not be ideal. On the other hand, Parc Riviera, which is next to Clementi MRT and with many jurong shopping centres around in the vicinity, clearly presents a more upside potential for capital appreciation as there are so many amenities which includes West Coast Plaza. Most buyers are also keen on condos in the west coast area given that it has rental potential.

EC Vs Condos in West Coast

Talking about rental potential, considering that a buyer who has bought an EC has to fulfill the Minimum Occupation Period of 5 years which means that much of their initial investment yields not rental return and also comes with negative yield as most buyers are buying with bank loan. Considering that the interest rates are climbing and this means more money used to pay for the interest payments rather than the principal, it makes more sense to buy Parc Riviera Condo and collect rental payment to pay for the mortgages.

Although Parc Riviera is not a freehold development, there is always buyers who are looking for freehold condos and ECs are missing out on this pie of the market. There are buyers who always feel that they must own the unit perpetuity and therefore only condos are able to satisfy this group of buyers. The Zion Road Condo feeling of owning a freehold condo also makes a buyer more inclined to buy a freehold condo rather than a 99 year leasehold EC.