When Bishan Loft, a 384-unit executive condo on Bishan Street 11, launched for sale in 2001, Singapore’s property market was recovering from the fallout of the Asian Financial Crisis and sentiment among local homeowners was still cautious. But at the same time, new ECs – especially those located in a mature town like Bishan – were highly sought-after due to its central location and proximity to amenities.
Back then, most EC buyers didn’t purchase an EC unit for a potential ‘windfall’ when they eventually sold it on the resale market. Most buyers were owner-occupiers. Today, a good number of new EC owners expect to reap substantial profits when an EC hits the resale market.
Completed in September 2003, Bishan Loft is an excellent example of these earlier-generation ECs. Here’s a look at how it has performed over the years, from launch through to privatisation and the present.
How was Bishan Loft positioned?
Bishan Loft was one of the earliest EC projects to hit the market. The housing scheme was introduced in 1995 and the project previewed in 2001.
At the time, it was uncommon to consider EC homes as a significant capital appreciating housing asset. They replaced the former Executive Maisonette style HDB flats and catered to a ‘sandwich class’ of homeowners who couldn’t afford a condo but earned too much to be eligible for HDB subsidies.
Bishan Loft was designed for families and comprises three- and four-bedroom units. Layout sizes were generally larger compared to newer EC projects, and the unit design was more straightforward, as we’ll examine later in this article.
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