Susan Gordon, Staff ReporterJAMAICA'S SECURITY conditions have transformed the local preference for types of dwelling in the real estate market, say real estate professionals.
They explained that though traditionally, Jamaicans normally aspire to acquire the single house type for the space and privacy they provide, there has been a decline in taste for these and an increase in demand for town houses in recent years.
Described by one realtor as "a true cross breed between a single house and an apartment," realtors believe the appeal factor is based on the cheaper security and investment returns town houses offer.
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
The demand for town houses, and even apartments to a lesser extent, are from your typical young professionals and civil servants who, according to the experts, account for almost half of the local housing market with the purchasing power. They make their entry into the housing market by targeting these types of dwellings.
"The single house arrangement has lost some of its appeal because the cost of living is going up and some of them are in areas with current traffic challenges," said realtor, Arnold Breakenridge of Breakenridge and Associates.
This is not to say that single houses are no longer in demand. Breakenridge pointed to the swift take up of the housing units being built in St. Catherine as evidence that single houses have a huge market in Jamaica once they are in an income bracket where the larger portion of the market can easily afford.
Reassessing the aesthetic, financing and investment advantages
between town houses, apartments and single family homes real estate professionals
argue that town houses provide a more balanced combination of features desired
by today's purchaser.
"The townhouse is a modern phenomenon so most of them are already in better
conditions than the older type single houses. You have at your disposal a shared
security arrangement. The security costs become an affordable item per unit
price. It allows you to have certain facilities a swimming pool, a badminton
court which, though shared, you would not have otherwise been able to afford
if you had a house of your own," argued Breakenridge.
But these services come at a cost and for this reason maintenance fees must
be factored in, sales manager of Jamaica National Real Estate, Judy Benjamin,
reminded Sunday Business.
Unsurprsingly, as Benjamin noted, the bulk of the maintenance fee is gobbled
up by security costs.
FINANCING
From a financing perspective, provided that the location is the same, townhouses
are more costly than apartments and some single units because of the special
package they offer, said realtor, Anya Levy of Valerie Levy and Associates.
This is more so with the newer developments which are gated.
Insurance for townhouses tends be on an individual basis while apartments normally
have strata collections.
One disadadvantage with townhouses is that expansions are usually restricted
because of the building caveats.
However, as Benjamin noted, they still give residents the feeling that they
have land space and a garden.
"The house market is very slim," said Levy. "Unless you want
to capture the U.S. dollar market, it would be easier to rent an apartment or
townhouse quicker for the price and the package, than a house."
RATE OF RETURN
An apartment or townhouse investment tends to give a higher level of return
in a shorter period of time, agreed Mr. Breakenridge.
He said one tends to fetch a higher rental price for apartment and townhouses
than for single house relatively speaking.
Ms. Benjamin said the biggest distinction between the three is the community
living. Townhouses and apartments offer closer living relation which may be
a turn off for some.
Mr. Breakenridge said townhouses, compared to single-family homes, tend to
have a more dense area or more people living in per square footage.
