Amid condo boom, townhouses seen as attractive alternative

With the existence of condominiums to match every price point, customers are more fortunate than ever to be able to choose from a wider selection than in the past, in many different locations that have correspondingly different land prices. 

This diversity of location has led to condominiums making headway into areas that have traditionally been the bastion of low-rise housing. Naturally, with the availability of more types of housing, many customers will debate the trade-offs of living in low-rises and high-rises. 

The low-rise residences I refer to in particular are townhouses. Even if the two types of projects are within a short distance of each other, customers who choose to purchase a condominium will most likely be living along a major road. Townhouses, on the other hand, usually require a short drive into a soi to a place where the home-owner has a more spacious landed residence. 

Therefore, as designers and marketers, we can begin to see how buyers of these two relatively distinct types of residences are beginning to overlap. 

In fact, many developers’ design teams have been pooling and harnessing their knowledge of customers’ demographics, geographic preferences, and psychographics to create townhouses that are targeted at the new generation of urban dwellers, whose lifestyles are virtually identical to those of their counterparts who live in condominiums.

For townhouses, designers have to focus on creating functional spaces that suit their targeted owners, while taking advantage of ample space provided in this type of residence. For example, unlike a condominium, a sizeable storeroom can be added to accommodate all of the owner’s bulky belongings such as luggage and golf bags. 

Townhouses also have plenty of space for a large master bedroom, secondary bedrooms, and a variety of bathrooms and powder rooms so that there is sufficient privacy for each resident, conducive to ensuring harmony in the house. 

These homes also allow an entire storey that can  be dedicated to communal and functional areas such as kitchens, dining rooms, and living areas that are designed in a way to answer the requirements of target customers.

Aside from differences in the interior, we can see that townhouses tend to be more serene than condominiums as they are located farther from the bustling main roads and mass-transit systems. Besides their location in a more peaceful and quiet environment, the ambience is enhanced by regulatory requirements that these estates allocate sufficient public green space to serve the community. 

This requirement is usually met by arranging landscaped areas to beautify the front of the estate, which double as a green barrier that blocks off disturbing sights and sounds from the community. 

Last, in designing these spaces, design teams can create townhouses and their surrounding environment that are as stylish and modern as any condominium. 

In fact, this will be increasingly prevalent as more customers indicate that they prefer these modern styles rather than the more conservative and luxurious styles more commonly found in the past.

As mentioned last month, the constant changes in the residential markets keep designers and marketers on the alert, always seeking new opportunities to close and open new types of developments at different times. 

While condominiums are booming, there are growing numbers of customers who are also evaluating townhouses, which has led to the quiet yet steady growth of their purchases by home-owners and investors. 

Although townhouses are not as easy to liquidate as condominiums, the returns on investing in them are actually higher. 

Although we do not know how long it will take for urban land to be fully purchased and fully developed, it is clear that we cannot avoid discussing the increasingly important role that townhouses play alongside condominiums in serving as residences favoured by urban dwellers.