Waking up to a great view. Staying a stone’s throw away from town. Living in an exclusive and private neighbourhood. While these are things that money can buy, it’s more than just the numbers. Living is more than being. It’s enjoying what life has to offer, and making the most of it.
Lifestyle embodied in the location of day-to-day life is understated. It often gets drowned out in a sea of numbers. Green for winners, red for losers. Homes are not spared. Properties get thrown into profitable and unprofitable categories, judged by onlookers as good or bad decisions based on its fluctuating prices. But homes are much more than just another asset. It affects your day-to-day life and how you interact with family and loved ones.
Will Singapore move on to a deeper understanding of the quality of life past the veneer of dollar signs? In this article, we cover the exclusive apartment, Sloane Residences, and its unique selling points.
Editor’s note: Sloane Residences recently TOP-ed in Q4 2022. Buyers who are looking for immediate occupancy can keep on reading to find out if this freehold boutique project has the winning formula.
Deets on the Deed: Living in Sloane
Sloane Residences is located in District 10 in the Core Central Region. The hailed CCR lies at the heart of the action in Singapore, with Orchard Road a 5-minute drive away. This freehold apartment on Balmoral Road holds an exclusive 52 units. It is a short 10-minute walk from Newton MRT, which is on both the North-South (Red) Line and Downtown (Blue) Line.
Balmoral Plaza is a short walk (5 mins) from the residence. You can find a grocery store, cafes, restaurants, and more. This mall is also family- friendly, equipped with a pre-school and many other outlets for enrichment activities. Rest assured, there are decent amenities around Sloane Residences.
Speaking of family-friendly, Sloane Residences is located near many educational institutions across all levels. More notably, it is near Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) and Singapore Chinese Girls’ Primary. These primary schools are within 1km of Sloane Residences, and would put your children under the top group for priority admission if they are Singapore Citizens. However, do take note that there is a 30-month stay requirement for the address being used, starting from the time of moving into the new property.
Anglo-Chinese School (Barker) and Singapore Chinese Girls’ School also host secondary school education, and these options are within 1km as well. In the wider vicinity, there is St Joseph’s Institution, St Margaret’s Secondary School, Hwa Chong Institution, and CHIJ Secondary School. At the tertiary level, there is also Catholic Junior College and Hwa Chong Institution.
More than three-quarters of buyers at Sloane Residences so far, are Singaporeans. Sporting keen interest from the local buyers, Balmoral isn’t just another expat zone. It is a diverse community with more local interest in the newer private properties along Balmoral Road. Older condominiums and apartments along this road might have a larger pool of foreign owners, but this has gradually shifted to more Singaporean ownership over the newer properties in the area.
Reasons to Consider Freehold in District 10 (CCR)
Freehold matters more in the CCR than in other regions, and might be worth more going forward. If we look at the private condominiums and apartments with a lease tenure of greater than 104 (for instance, we consider 999- year leases part of this group), the price gap between the OCR and more central regions (CCR, RCR) has been steadily increasing since 2003.
This price gap does not show any signs of closing, and tells us that freehold and comparable properties are being priced at a premium in more central areas, and this premium is increasing over time. The widening price gap gives us a few reasons to consider freehold in the CCR.
First, it is a great store of value and a hedge against inflation. Properties capture the effect of inflation quite well and do not face as great a risk of a drawdown compared to investments in businesses or the stock market. Although it is less liquid, it acts as a good store of value while you’re staying there yourself. It’s a smart way to put money underneath your pillow, accumulate and preserve your capital.
Second, as a freehold property, Sloane Residences can ride through multiple property and market cycles and downturns without having their value affected by lease decay. This enhances the property’s ability to act as a store of value. If you’re looking for a freehold property, it is also better to look for one in the RCR or CCR as the price gap between regions looks to widen.
Numbers aside, lifestyle and legacy are the two key reasons for the freehold CCR pick. As a freehold property, the option to keep it as a legacy for future generations is always open. With no expiry date hanging over the property, there is little market pressure to dispose of your property. Living near the CCR is a huge lifestyle pick. If all your favourite food, leisure, social activities are in the CBD (or even work), the amount of time saved and stress not experienced might be well worth it.
What Stands Out about Sloane Residences?
After you’ve considered that freehold properties in the CCR is something that interests you, what is so special about Sloane Residences? For sure, there are some features which really stand out for Sloane Residences. But more importantly, this article serves more as a primer for you to see if these are features that catch your eye, or are something that you’re fond of. Beyond the features, our hope for this article is not that you’ll just buy the home. Rather, for you to head down to the space itself to view how unique it is. Of course, if it fits the bill, it might be worth considering making this your new home.
When viewing the site, there were a few features of Sloane Residences that really stood out to us. This isn’t an exhaustive list of all the features. It is merely a highlight of what we felt was special about the residence.
The driveway into Sloane Residences is a sleek hotel-esque entrance, which is reminiscent of its past life as Sloane Court Hotel. The completely new incarnation as Sloane Residences keeps some of the vestiges of the elegant and welcoming driveway.
While Sloane Residences is indeed a small development with only 52 units in total, it is not cramped or lacking in space. The land size of the development is 3,618 square metres, which boasts plenty of space for each family unit. Compared to other condominiums and apartments across Singapore, Sloane Residences is less densely populated which will make the development feel more spacious. Development setback is pretty significant as well, with ample space surpassing 30m for the front-facing stacks against the main road, and over 70m for the rear building addition.
Speaking of space, the high ceilings are also a key feature of the development. The average standard ceiling height of condominiums in Singapore is around 2.8 metres in height. In the available units of Sloane Residences, the high ceilings come in 3.2m, 4.65m, 5m, and 6m depending on which units you are looking at.
This extra head space might appear as just a number or picture on the screen. To gain a better understanding and feel of how these varying high ceilings change the live-in experience, you should really head down to have a look. It makes a huge difference in having the breathing and thinking space in the live-in environment. If you’re working from home, the living space might be a great area to enjoy the space when working with more headroom (literally). But more importantly, it gives buyers an opportunity to get creative with their own loft designs if they wish to do so.
The views along the different facings of Sloane Residence are great. Different rooms in each stack offer its unique take on the neighbourhood in Balmoral Road. The open skies are a welcoming sight and even high-rise buildings are punctuated by open spaces, making them a picturesque addition to the cityscape.
We personally found the viewing experience really pleasant, with great views and windy weather, it felt like a tropical getaway.
What really added to the high ceilings and open views was the long balcony across the living room. This made the apartment feel really spacious and bring when the entire balcony was opened up. It gave the unit a certain sense of tropical grandeur, like something out of a Wes Anderson movie.
That being said, the afternoon sun does hit at quite a sharp angle into the living space. This is one of the more obvious points prospective buyers need to be aware of. To mitigate this issue, you can consider solutions such as ZipTrak Blinds or other ways to block the afternoon sunlight. (Indoor sunglasses anyone?)
The living room was generous (3 bedroom units) and great for people who love hosting or lounging in the living room. These 3 bedders also have their own personal lifts, which give the apartment an exclusive and luxurious feel. Having to arrive right at your own doorstep gives the home a special perk and a greater feel of privacy as well.
To be transparent, some buyers may feel like the space in other bedrooms is rather compact. That is hard to deny. The use of space in these areas needs to be smart, and it might be good to introduce solutions such as Murphy Beds or a Tatami-concept. Otherwise, the space is still perfectly welcoming with the great views.
Of course, the sense of luxury is not complete without an infinity pool. And Sloane Residences has just that along with the social BBQ area, making the space a dynamic social-play area. Great for family gatherings or hangouts with friends.
Compared to other new launches in this hot season, buyers can look forward to moving into Sloane Residences as it approaches its TOP date soon. This is definitely an edge over considering other new launches on the market right now, which might take a couple more years before the property is completed.
To sum up some of the points we found that buyers should know about Sloane Residences:
- Freehold, CCR, High ceiling, Open views, Long balcony, Personal lift, Infinity pool
- Buyers like the layout, Get creative with loft designs, Basement parking
- Almost completed, can move in sooner than other new launches
- Tilt Afternoon Sun at Stack 5
- 1km from ACS and SCGS
More than anything, we found the viewing experience fun and refreshing.
Available Units at Sloane Residences
As for the available units left at Sloane Residences, most of what is left are 2-bedders and 3-bedders. Their layouts, ceiling heights, and strata areas vary, but are still spectacular in their own right. The demand for the 4-bedders were overwhelming and are currently all sold. If you are interested and in luck, you might find them on the resale market.
The 3-bedder units are located on the taller stacks and are the ones with the great views. The 2-bedders on the Groundscraper part of Sloane Residences are also unique, with a yard-like environment for families to experience a pseudo-landed living experience.
The ceiling height of the 2-bedders is much higher than most of the other 3-bedder units in Sloane Residences, and offers many creative possibilities for space utilisation. For you to better visualise the layouts for the different types of units available, we have put together the floor plans below.
You can also look through the 3D rendered floor plans for the 2 Bedroom units in this link, or the 3 Bedroom units in this other link here. The showflat for C1a type floor plans can be found here.
Sloane Residences comes with unique layouts, high quality finishes, and good sense of space. Buyers should note that the site area is relatively small (3,618 square metres), with not as many facilities as a conventional full-sized condominium development. The maintenance fee is also expected to be high due to private lifts, and comes in at around $116 per share value (estimated to be around $696 for 2 bedroom units and over $812 for 3 bedroom units). We have a table below detailing how the number is derived.
The boutique private residences at present are not as popular as they were in the past. Currently, Sloane Residences face a lot of competition from other freehold developments, such as Perfect Ten and Leedon Green. Compared to other developments nearby, buyers may have second thoughts when considering Sloane Residences. These points are well noted and understandable.
Nonetheless, Sloane Residences comes in as a worthy competitor and serious buyers may want to take a look at the site and make comparisons before prematurely ruling this option out. Depending on which neighbourhood and area resonate more with the buyer, the choices could vary.
Overall, the pick for Sloane Residences is its 3 bedroom units. They really stand out because of pool-views galore, especially the C1a units which are a lot more popular with buyers. The arrangement of space prioritises social activities with the spacious living area and open balcony. This layout is unique and complements the surrounding cityscape. It is hard to put into words the actual viewing experience, but we hope that the video tour comes closer in expounding on the beauty of this particular project.
Who would love Sloane Residences?
To conclude the article, we cover briefly on who might really love Sloane Residences.
- Long-term property holders
- Young families with buying power
- Families with schooling children
- Socialites, love hosting or are out and about
- Buyers in love with exclusive residence
Here are also two quick points on what you should already know about the property.
- Not advisable for quantum play or short-term property flip
- Freehold nature allows your home to store and grow in value through market cycles
If you wish to find out more about Sloane Residences, please reach out to our experts here. The most important part is to find out if this makes sense for your own personal property journey. We are always happy to show you the place. And will be even happier if we can value add and make a real positive difference in your property journey. Thank you for taking the time to come this far, hope to see you soon in our next article!
