Buying Activity Picks up in the West

Singapore, 15 Mar 2017 – The West region of Singapore was buzzing with activities in recent months. According to the official URA developer sales statistics released yesterday, the top selling projects for February were The Clement Canopy and Parc Riviera, with 207 and 200 units sold respectively. Both are situated in the Western part of Singapore; The Clement Canopy at Clementi and Parc Riviera at West Coast.Even in the public housing sector, flats located in the West are highly coveted. In the recently concluded February 2017 Build-To-Order (BTO) sale launch, Clementi flats drew the most number of applications, despite their higher prices compared to the Tampines and Punggol flats offered in the same exercise. In addition, a resale five room flat in Clementi crossed the $1 million mark in August 2016, a rare occurrence usually reserved for units at Pinnacle @ Duxton, executive maisonettes and terraces.

In a tender which closed on 9th February, China Construction won a land parcel situated adjacent to Parc Riviera for $291.99 million ($592 per square foot of Gross Floor Area), edging out eight other developers. The winning bid was 7.63 per cent higher than the winning bid for the Parc Riviera site.

Evidently, both homebuyers and developers are optimistic about the prospects of Singapore’s West side.  And they certainly have reasons to do so.

Plans are underway to develop the Jurong Lake District into the largest commercial hub outside the Central Business District. The 360 hectare area is set to be home to more than 500,000 square metres of office space, 250,000 square metres of retail space, 1,000 homes and 2,800 hotel rooms when fully developed.

The recent signing of the bilateral agreement between Singapore and Malaysia on the implementation of the High-Speed Rail project is a key development in the area. Once completed, the travelling time between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur will be reduced to a mere 90 minutes.

This provides a strong tenant base for landlords who are looking to rent out their units; and is a major reason why investors are zooming in on properties in the West.   Homes in and around Singapore’s second Central Business District (CBD) is also likely to see further headroom for capital appreciation in the years to come.

Adjacent to Jurong, the Clementi area may appeal more to buyers who prefer to be living just outside the hustle and bustle of the major commercial hub; yet near enough to reap the many benefits that the Jurong Regional Centre may bring.

Clementi is already considered a mature estate. It already has in place a comprehensive suite of amenities for residents. In addition, Clementi has the added advantage of having an “educational cluster”. The National University of Singapore, Asia’s top university according to the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings and Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, is situated there. Nan Hua High School, NUS High School of Mathematics and Science and Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) are all nearby as well. This is definitely an added boon to families with children who are schooling.

As such, it is no surprise that the western part of Singapore is much sought after by owner occupiers and investors alike.

By Eugene Lim, Key Executive Officer and Seah Yao Hui, Assistant Manager, Research