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IT'S every city dweller's dream anywhere in the world to live in a swanky apartment downtown.

In Singapore, prime properties around Orchard Road are no less compelling, for those with the means at least.

On top of being able to boast an address that signals a certain station in life, there is something to living practically at the doorstep of the country's main shopping belt.

And developers have not been slow to catch on.

Riding on the general upswing in the luxury segment of the market over the last year or so, they have either put out or plan to launch a spread of properties virtually within walking distance of the entire stretch of Orchard Road.

As with most good things, these properties don't come cheap but some require substantially fatter wallets.

At the Tanglin Road and Cuscaden Road end, for example, there is City Development's St Regis Hotel & Residences, arguably the most talked-about project in town.

The 173-unit upmarket development will be launched on Thursday and is expected to be completed in 2008. But there has already been market talk of an eye-popping $3,000 per sq ft (psf) price achieved at a preview sale.

At the other end of Orchard Road, at Oxley Rise, Wing Tai has its VisionCrest Residence going for between $1,300 and $1,680 psf.

The freehold development, with 265 units, is expected to receive its temporary occupation permit (TOP) in the fourth quarter of this year.

Loosely sandwiched between the two on either side of Orchard Road, yet more developments are on the market fighting for the attention of the well-heeled.

GuocoLand's Paterson Residence at Paterson Road and Grange Road, for instance, is going for about $1,500 psf on average. The 110-unit, freehold development is expected to obtain its TOP in December 2008.

CapitaLand's The Botanic on Lloyd, at Lloyd Road, has all but sold out its 60 apartments and six townhouses. Just the one 4,500 sq ft townhouse is left, selling at $5.5 million.

And then there are the projects that are on the way such as Far East Organization's Orchard Scotts and Keppel Land's Ritz Residences.

The various developments might differ in their size and pricing, property experts observed, but the sales pitch is one and the same: location, location, location.

'Living at the edge of Orchard Road where there is the hustle and bustle, that is the attraction for many people...if you have the spending power to make it happen,' said Chesterton International's head of research, Mr Colin Tan.

Still, paying top dollar does fetch other, more tangible benefits beyond prestige and proximity.

For one thing, owners are less likely to lose money if they decide to sell, and in some cases, could reap a tidy profit.

Knight Frank director of consultancy and research Nicholas Mak said: 'The properties tend to hold their value. There is unlikely to be a lot of new supply in these areas compared with others that typically might bring resale values down.'

Indeed, demand for prime areas in Orchard tends to be robust, and this extends to demand for rental apartments too.

Ms Tay Huey Ying, an associate director for research and consultancy at Colliers International, said: 'It's easy to find tenants, so the chances of being vacant are not so high.'

She added that rental yields for freehold properties, at about 3 to 3.5 per cent, are also more attractive than those for similar apartments in suburban areas, which come to about 2 per cent.

Next week: The Telok Kurau/Katong district

kelvwong@sph.com.sg