Is freehold property better than 99-year?

THERE are generally two types of property tenure in Singapore: 99-year leasehold and freehold. We consider 999-year leasehold to be the same as freehold, because their difference in value is negligible.

Freehold properties hold a few advantages over their leasehold counterparts - higher en-bloc potential, slower pace of depreciation and no restrictions on the use of Central Provident Fund for home purchases.

In recent years, new leasehold condominiums seem to have dominated the market. The proportions of new leasehold and freehold condominium sales stand at 95 per cent to 5 per cent respectively as of first half of 2013. In contrast, back in 2006 and 2007, around 70 per cent of new sales were freehold. This could be attributed to the ramp-up of the government land sales programme in recent years and the tightening of en- bloc rules in October 2007.