After a house purchase process that started nearly a year ago for Sonia, 36, she is comfortably in her townhouse in a gated community, just as she had always wanted.

Still, she continues to buy the Sunday newspaper and religiously turn to the classified advertisements, scanning through the houses for sale in the Corporate Area. She is not looking to buy another house and neither is she looking to sell hers.

Instead, she is looking at the prices of what is on the market and having a wonderful time comparing them to what she is living in.

"Every Sunday I look through the papers and I just smile," Sonia told STARCENTS. "I look at the prices and think to myself that if I did not buy this then, I would not have had a chance at all to own a house, much less in a gated community. That is key for me, as a single woman, to have that sense of security, and when I look at what comparable units are being sold for, I just feel good."

"The prices are ridiculous."

The comparisons are especially comforting as she goes through the financial stress of the mortgage payments. "I am so broke," she said. "It is not only the mortgage, but it also costs to get into the mortgage in the first place, with lawyer fees and valuation and all that. Then there is fixing up the place before you move in, painting, dealing with the electricity and the plumbing. So when I sit down and look at my bank account, which is the lowest it has ever been since I started working, there must be something to comfort me in all this."

There is also another factor. "When I look at those houses in the papers, I can just imagine how the value of the one I own is going up, just sitting there," Sonia said. "So if push come to shove and I have to sell it to migrate or something, then you know I will make a good profit."