Lessons from Singapore's top-performing two-bedder condos, showing how size, tenure, and neighbourhood timing shaped returns more than common buyer assumptions…
I was talking to a new acquaintance the other day, who shared with me her decision to move from a landed house to a condo because the stairs were becoming too much as she got older. As I live with an elderly mother myself, the issues associated with ageing cross my mind every now and then (not that we have to worry about stairs, living in a flat.) Nonetheless, this week, I thought I’d view some properties that come with home lifts, Luxus Hills.
Luxus Hills is a collection of 999-year leasehold landed properties that were developed by Bukit Sembawang Estates, located at the junction of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 and Yio Chu Kang Road. The newly-developed houses feature home lifts, which are incredibly practical considering our ageing society. However, it’s essential to remember that these lifts require regular maintenance, so they aren’t entirely hassle-free.
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For those not familiar with the area, here’s a map to show you where we’re headed today.
And here’s the Masterplan: as you can see, the houses run next to a (relatively) large linear park and are across the road from an Industrial Park. (There were a few kopitiams in the Industrial Area open on a Sunday evening.)
As shown above, the houses are surrounded by undeveloped residential land, so the back of the estate is cordoned off for more construction.
This is what the area behind the second row of houses looks like.To the right.To the left.
This is really different from the setting of the first row of houses, which overlooks the linear park.
The first row of houses overlooking the linear park.It kind of feels like you have a large private garden to yourself! In addition, if you refer to the master plan, this row of houses also has the advantage of being single-loading. (The next row of houses/buildings is separated from them by the road/park.)
There were a few people using the public space, but not too many, although that may change once all the houses have been built and fully occupied.
Look what a wide setback the houses have!Am I bombarding you with too many photos of the park? You can probably tell I was VERY taken with this part of the estate!How many houses can boast a setting like this? I felt like I was in the middle of a cluster house development, where the houses enjoy landscaped private gardens, but none of the disadvantages that come with strata-properties.There were even public toilets in this park!And pavilions to enjoy the breeze – this side of the park is elevated above the road so it’s very windy.That’s how high up we are above the road. If I lived here, I would have a walk in the garden every morning and evening!
The only fly in the ointment was loud music. One of the establishments across the road (I couldn’t tell which one) was blasting music REALLY, REALLY loudly. It wasn’t too noisy in the park as we’re pretty far away from it but I did wonder if they do play the music so loudly every day. (I checked Google and there is a Bar across the road, so maybe the music is coming from there, but it was so far away, I couldn’t see the sign.)
It might not be too audible from the houses, as they are a distance behind us.As you can see, the park is pretty wide. (Some of the linear parks we’ve visited in these landed property walkabouts have been, sorry to say, quite pathetic. Some were so small I didn’t even know they were parks till I saw the sign!)I also like how there is a ramp for you to get down to the main road, where the bus stop is.That’s the stop. You get Buses 50, 72 and 88 here. Unfortunately, in terms of public transport, the area is a little challenging, as there isn’t an MRT station nearby. There is, however, a Giant across the road, in the HDB estate.Alas, there was this sign, but I didn’t see any news about burglaries in the area when I googled.There’s also a play area here. (There are 2 playgrounds in the Linear Park, but none within the estate proper.)No one was using this section, but the other playground was quite heavily utilised. I’ll show you the photos in a bit.This is what the backyard of the houses looks like. Isn’t it lovely? As someone who enjoys gardening and usually has to resort to Click and Grow, this space is my favourite thing about the area! A nice touch. I wonder if the neighbourhood has a particularly strong neighbourhood spirit, as around 400 households in the surrounding area took part in decorating the streets for Christmas 2022 and Chinese New Year 2023, coughing up between $150-$220 per household. Click through to see photos of their efforts!Isn’t that nice?We then reach a road which separates us from another section of the Linear Park. (This photo is taken looking towards the main Ang Mo Kio Road, with the linear parks on my right and left.)Next section of the linear park.
No houses that way, so I’ll head up the road I just showed you, towards the houses.
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Heading into the estate.Turning around to take another look at the houses by the park.
Apparently, the houses received a BCA Green Mark Platinum & GoldPlus Award i.e. they have solar panels on the roof, rainwater harvesting channels, as well as 2 charging points for electric cars. They also have air wells to maximise wind flow, or double volume ceilings – a property feature that I love, but which others may find a waste of usable interior space. (I realise this bit sounds a bit like a property advertisement, but I can assure you I’m not affiliated with the company in any way!)
As you can see, some houses are elevated, so they need stairs to enter their backyards from the park.Walking further in. It was REALLY hard to find parking in this estate. The residents here have a LOT of cars and there are not many spaces that allow street parking. The houses in different rows look slightly different to each other.Looking to the left.This is the last row of houses. The area behind is boarded off.There is a dotted white line here, but almost every house has their dustbin out.The houses also have a lot of balcony space.Most houses can only fit one car – although a few can fit two – which is why parking is in such short supply here.
To be honest, I think this was the 999-year/freehold estate with the least amount of parking space, out of all my walkabouts.
Not seen dustbins reserving parking space for a while, as the last few estates we visited were all generously spaced.This photo may not illustrate it well, but the road was SO tight, my car sensor kept going off as I drove in between the 2 rows of cars. (On the bright side, the houses are quite far away from each other, as the 2 streets in between are quite broad.)One of the properties that can fit more than one car.Cute decor.An alternative way of fitting more than one car.Reached the junction.Looking towards the main road. There was a surprising amount of through traffic, for a small estate.Turning and looking into the estate, towards the construction hoarding.As mentioned, the houses here look different! Which house design do you prefer?Different again.And again.And again. Detached house.See what I mean about how residents here have a lot of cars? (Very fancy ones too, I saw so many sports cars!)So this is my least favourite part about the state: the road situation/parking!There were a few semi-Ds in the middle of the road here.At the end, we reach a construction hoarding again.First time I’ve seen a TV OUTSIDE a house! (The pink screen on the top.)Walking around the bend.I saw these signs almost everywhere in the estate! (People just seemed to ignore them though…)And we’re back at the park!Let me show you the other playground before we go.Squint and you’ll see the playground in the background.History of the area, if you’re interested.Terrible quality picture, because I zoomed in from afar to protect the kids’ privacy.I guess the downside of being next to the park is the lack of privacy, as I can see quite clearly into the backyards of the houses here. Conversations on the balcony also won’t be too private!Although I don’t see any seats here, so maybe it’ll just be pedestrians passing by (instead of sitting right below your window.)
This pretty much brings me to the end of today’s tour! How did you find the area? I was in two minds about it: when I drove in and saw the road and parking situation, I felt a headache coming on. However, when I walked through the windy park, I really liked it!
Let me know what you think and whether there are other estates you’d like to see featured in the comments!
Unlike condos, there are very few true like-for-like comparisons in the landed market. Every purchase is effectively a judgement call based on imperfect comparables.
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TJ's interest in property was sparked after returning from the UK- where balconies are not counted in one's square footage!- and finding that the Singapore property had totally changed in the 7 years she was away. When not reading and watching articles & videos about property, she is busy cooking and baking for friends, family & her blog Greedygirlgourmet
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