New condo
launch!!!
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Doorstep
to Bartley MRT StationBartley
Residences
Located within an established residential estate and just 15
minutes' drive away from the City Centre. Located next to the
Bartley MRT Circle Line (CCL) station, future residents will enjoy
convenient access to all parts of Singapore via the MRT system.
The future residential development will also be well connected to
major expressways such as the CTE and PIE.
| Developer : |
Hong Leong Holdings |
| Location : |
Bartley Road / Lorong How Sun |
| Site Area : |
22,094.4 sqm / 237,822 sqft (approx) |
| Tenure : |
99 years wef 1 April 2011 |
| Expected TOP : |
TBA |
| Description : |
Proposed erection of flat development comprising 3
blocks of 14-storey building, 1 block of 15-storey building and
4 blocks of 18-Storey building (total : 702 units) with 4 levels
of basement carparks, swimming pool and communal facilities on
lot 10313c mk 24 at Lorong How Sun |
| Number of units: |
702 units
- 1-bedroom (18%) : 463 sq ft
- 2-bedroom (19%) : 785 – 807 sq ft
- 2+study (14%) : 900 – 968 sq ft
- 3-bedroom (29%) : 1,022 – 1,097 sq ft
- 3+study (10%) : 1,162 sqft
- 4-bedroom (8%) : 1,345 – 1,377 sq ft
- Dual Key (2%) : 1,593 sq ft
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MRT stations and property prices
by Ku Swee Yong 04:46 AM Dec 30, 2011 ~ Today Online
 As more and more MRT
stations are built in Singapore, there has been much discussion
over whether the presence of an MRT station will boost the prices
of residential units nearby.
Let's use the recently completed Circle Line for discussion.
According to one school of thought, when the Circle Line and the
locations of its stations were first announced in the early 2000s,
prices of developments within walking distance to the stations
started to pick up. Very quickly, advertisements for developers'
new launches and classified ads placed by real estate agents
highlighted the benefits of the future MRT stations: Accessibility
and travel convenience, resulting in increased demand from both
owner-occupiers and tenants, leading to improved rentals and
higher transacted prices.
Some investors believe in entering the market early because with
the view that when the MRT stations are completed and the line
starts running, the market for residential properties nearby would
have already "priced in" the premium of the convenience. There is
also a view that in the very long term, most Singaporeans will be
living within 500m from an MRT station and any "price premium"
arising from such proximity will disappear.
It seems that we still lack solid data to substantiate and
quantify the effects. But I think it is correct to say that there
is an initial euphoria as sellers of properties around the named
stations will immediately raise their prices.
CONSTRUCTION INCONVENIENCE
However, what follows after is about five to seven years of
construction work for the MRT lines and the stations. During this
period, there will be traffic diversions and residents in the
vicinity are inconvenienced by the noise, dust and poor traffic
conditions.
Based on our observations from serving investors and tenants,
expatriates and locals looking for units to rent or buy typically
shun condominiums where there is construction nearby. This is
especially true for condominiums that suffer limited access due to
the construction works for the MRT line and the stations.
For example, residents of LevelZ, Spanish Village and Gallop
Gables at Farrer Road were inconvenienced during the construction
of the Circle Line's Farrer Road Station, when there was reduced
access to their main entrances. Farrer Road itself had many
changes and diversions, with new twists and turns appearing every
few months or so. Residents had to bear with dust, noise and the
occasional movement of heavy construction equipment. The result:
Lower occupancy rates and longer periods of vacancies between
tenants, which led to weaker rentals and, in many cases,
lower-than-market transaction prices.
As completion nears and the streetscape is brought back to normal,
with roads straightened and potholes patched up, prospective
tenants are more willing to consider renting these properties in
the knowledge that the MRT line will begin operating soon. Once
the station is open, tenants are willing to pay a bit more and may
also make quicker decisions on signing the tenancy agreements.
Therefore rentals rise and as yields in Singapore remain within 3
per cent per annum, the prices of the condominiums will grow with
the rental growth.
It is difficult, almost impossible, to use a standard yardstick to
measure the opportunity costs or the relative underperformance of
property values affected by MRT construction. Some cases can be
pretty obvious as evidenced by the retail outlets around Chun Tin
Road and Beauty World Centre. Due to a reduction in parking lots
and traffic congestion, patronage of the food outlets is reduced
and, therefore, rentals drop.
In the case of residential properties, things are less obvious.
Rental data is not rich for comparison and over the
five-to-seven-year period, rentals and sale prices may go up or
down depending on the overall external economy, en bloc exercises
and new launches, etc.
However, we do have snippets of data that can support our
empirical observations. From the chart, we can compare the median
rental prices for residential properties around Lorong Chuan and
Farrer Road MRT Stations over the last three years.
We see that from May to Sept 2009, when Lorong Chuan MRT Station
began operating, median rentals climbed 55 per cent from S$1.97
per sq ft per month to S$3.06 psf per month. Over the same period,
median rentals along Farrer Road rose about 30 per cent from a
three-month average of S$3.01 psf per month (Note: I have used the
average of April to June 2009 because of the spike in May) to
S$3.91 psf per month in Sept 2011. In fact, during the period in
May to Dec 2009, when rentals around Lorong Chuan station were
creeping up steadily, the average rentals along Farrer Road were
flattish, due to the fact that Farrer Road was still in a mess as
far as the traffic flow and the MRT construction were concerned.
WHAT TO INVEST IN AND WHEN?
I would summarise it as such: Prices of residential properties
rise due to exuberant expectations when the locations of the MRT
stations are announced, subsequently underperform the rest of the
market during the construction period, and then trend up again
when the work is completed.
So, buy at the correct time: When the MRT stations are about to be
completed, not when the stations are announced and certainly not
when the construction is at its peak.
In a previous commentary in Today, I had recommended that
investors avoid Upper Bukit Timah, Thomson and Upper Thomson,
especially the latter locations as two major infrastructure
projects will be built at the same time - the North South
Expressway and the Thomson MRT line - choking north-south traffic
until 2020.
With Circle Line's Stages 4 and 5 - from Marymount to Harbourfront
- running since October and cutting travelling times to Holland
Village, Buona Vista, Science Park, NUS, etc, where the working
population and student population are high, I am optimistic that
the residential markets will begin to show rental and price
growth.
Furthermore, I believe that price growth will not be limited to
the two new stages. Stage 3 of the Circle Line (Bartley to
Marymount) began operations in May 2009, while Stages 1 and 2
(Dhoby Ghaut to Bartley) commenced services last April. Looking at
the potential of the residential segments across these stations, I
believe there are several locations that are particularly
promising:
1) At Bartley MRT
Station, where works on the Bartley viaduct and the Paya Lebar
underpass had inconvenienced traffic for several years, watch out
for a new condominium launching soon between Lorong How Sun and
Bartley Road. This residential precinct has been neglected by
investors for a while due to the lack of new projects and the
traffic situation. Now that traffic has improved and the
environment is nice and neat like it used to be over 10 years ago,
property values can begin to rise with the convenience of the
expressways and the Circle Line.
2) Lorong Chuan MRT Station is surrounded by a cluster of private
condominiums. Several international schools and major shopping
malls are within a five-to-10 minute drive. In the past, a
resident here would take 30 minutes to an hour to commute by
public transport to Alexandra, Pasir Panjang or NUS. Today it
takes 20 to 40 minutes. The 10-year-old condominiums there are
priced at S$800 to S$1,100psf, with rental yields of 3.5 per cent
per annum and higher.
3) Pasir Panjang MRT Station, where freehold condominiums are
trading around S$1,000psf. I would consider them undervalued
relative to mass market locations at the same price level, given
that these condominiums are within a five-to-10 minute drive to
the financial district and both the integrated resorts.
Ku Swee Yong is the founder of real estate agency International
Property Advisor, specialising in property services for
high-net-worth clients. He is the author of Real Estate Riches:
Understanding Singapore's Property Market in a Volatile Economy.
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Latest Updates
23rd Dec 2011
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Nearby Amenities
Retail and Dining
A wide range of shopping and dining facilities are available at
the nearby Serangoon Town Centre. Heartland Mall, Upper Serangoon
Shopping Centre and the NEX Shopping Mall which are located just
10 minutes' drive away.
Recreation
 Residents can enjoy
recreational facilities at the nearby Serangoon Sports Stadium and
Swimming Complex.
Schools  The future
residential development is an ideal home for families with
school-going children. Numerous schools are located within the
vicinity including Maris Stella Primary and High Schools as well
as Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' Primary and Secondary Schools. |
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