Some Units At This Freehold Riverfront Condo Could Lose Their Views — But Here’s How Prices Have Actually Moved

When the Draft Master Plan 2025 was released, some owners living in the condos along Kallang Riverside Park scrutinised it for development plans that might affect their rare riverfront views.

Located between Lavender and Kallang, the Kampong Bugis residential enclave in District 12 was previously zoned as a white site that would be tendered to a master developer. This means a single developer could purchase the entire area and lead its concept planning and development.

A white site also means that the developer has more flexibility to propose the mix of land uses such as residential and retail, subject to approval by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). At the time, the idea was to encourage an integrated, live-work-play environment that aligned with URA’s long-term vision for the waterfront precinct.

But when the latest Master Plan was unveiled last year, only two white sites remained. Two other plots have now been rezoned to residential use. Meanwhile, a third site next to the Kallang Riverside condominium has been rezoned to “Residential with Commercial at 1st Storey”.

[image: URA Master Plan 2019.png]

For existing developments in the vicinity this matters. In particular, it raises questions for owners at Kallang Riverside, especially those in stacks that currently enjoy unblocked views of the Kallang River.

If future residential blocks are built directly south of the project, some of the river-facing stacks may see their views partially or even fully obstructed. In a neighbourhood where these river-facing views are prized, and often marketed as a key selling point, we can ask ourselves if buyers and sellers are adjusting their price expectations for this risk.

To examine this, we looked at three factors: the development’s overall long-term performance, the possible resale outcomes of its river-facing stacks, and how it compares with its closest neighbour, The Riverine by the Park.

What else do we know from the Master Plan?

An important detail in the Master Plan is the plot ratio of the three residential sites. The site next to Kallang Riverside and the site next to The Riverine by the Park come with a gross plot ratio of 3.5.

The plot ratio refers to the maximum gross floor area that a development can be built relative to the size of the land parcel. A similar plot ratio does not automatically guarantee identical building heights since land efficiency, site configuration, and unit mix all influence the final design.

However, it indicates that the future development may have residential towers that are as high as Kallang Riverside, which features a 30-storey tower.

Given that most developers tend to maximise the allowable built-up area, the future project may resemble a similarly scaled residential development in terms of intensity. At a similar plot ratio, a new block positioned directly south could interrupt the current line-of-sight.

Modest growth since launch, but not necessarily because of Kampong Bugis

Kallang Riverside was launched in 2014 and completed in 2019. At launch, the project set an average selling price of $2,128 psf, a price  that was more than 40% higher compared to the average price of freehold condos in District 12 at the time.

By 2025, the average price at Kallang Riverside was $2,420 psf, which translates to an annualised growth rate of approximately 1.18% over 11 years.

This places the rate of its price growth slightly below the District 12 freehold average of around 1.48%, and significantly below the broader freehold market, which saw annualised growth of about 3.23% over the same period.

If we narrow the focus to resale transactions from 2018 onwards, annualised growth slows further to roughly 0.36%. In comparison, District 12 and the wider freehold market both recorded annualised growth rates above 3.8% in that timeframe.

In other words, the project has underperformed relative to both its immediate district and the broader market. This trend predates the most recent Master Plan updates, so the muted growth cannot be attributed to redevelopment uncertainty at Kampong Bugis.

This helps us to address the question of whether the stacks most exposed to potential obstruction are behaving differently from the rest of the development.

Check out our compilation of project data on Kallang Riverside here.

Performance of river-facing stacks

The stacks most directly facing the basin are 1, 2, 8 and 9. These are the units most likely to be affected should a future project be developed directly in front of the condo.

If buyers were already pricing in the risk of view obstruction, we might expect to see consistent underperformance across these stacks, either in the form of lower resale prices or weaker profitability compared to other stacks within the same development.

Instead, the data presents a more nuanced picture.

Stack 2 stands out for the wrong reasons. Based on recent transactions in 2024 and 2025, the average resale price is about $1.69 million. Compared to the price of units in this stack during the project’s initial sales launch, this reflects a decline of about 27.5%.

The average psf price has also dipped 5.7% from the psf price at launch to about $2,039 psf. Among the river-facing stacks, this is the only one showing negative performance relative to initial pricing.

However, transaction volume in this stack has been relatively thin. With fewer data points, averages can be more volatile, and a small number of transactions may disproportionately skew the outcome.

In contrast, Stack 1 has recorded moderate gains. The average resale price for recent transactions stands at $2.93 million, translating to a 33.8% increase from launch. Resale prices average at $2,324 psf, reflecting growth of roughly 10.4% from launch. These figures suggest resilience rather than distress.

Stacks 8 and 9 have, somewhat counterintuitively, emerged as some of the stronger performers within the development.

Stack 8 has recorded the highest number of transactions, with an average return on investment (ROI) of 13.6% and average gains of about $270,000 per transaction. Stack 9 has performed even more strongly, with an average ROI of around 24.9% and average gains of about $515,000.

The river-facing stacks do not display a uniform pattern of underperformance. While Stack 2 has struggled, Stacks 1, 8 and 9 have shown positive gains, with two of them ranking among the stronger performers in the entire project.

If buyers were heavily discounting the risk of future obstruction, we would expect a downward adjustment across all four stacks, especially in the most recent 2025 transactions. The current data does not support that conclusion.

Comparing with The Riverine By The Park

The Riverine by the Park, completed in 2010, is a smaller freehold development with just 96 units, and it is positioned slightly closer to the river basin. It provides a useful benchmark for waterfront private residential developments in the same precinct.

Resale transactions at The Riverine by the Park from 2024 to 2026 average at $2,051 psf, representing a 37% increase from its average launch price of $1,501 psf. In comparison, resale transactions at Kallang Riverside in 2024 and 2025 average around $2,528 psf for its stronger-performing stacks, reflecting a 15 to 20% increase from launch.

Despite being newer and larger in scale, Kallang Riverside’s long-term growth has been more modest. This suggests that pricing dynamics here are influenced not just by waterfront proximity, but also by launch entry price and market timing.

Redevelopment risk or rejuvenation?

The planned transformation of Kampong Bugis is part of the broader rejuvenation of the Kallang district. This includes ongoing enhancements around the Singapore Sports Hub, plans to strengthen the Kallang River as a lifestyle spine, and long-term ambitions to create a continuous waterfront promenade connecting key nodes across the basin. 

The area has progressively evolved from a largely industrial and sports-centric zone into a mixed-use waterfront district with residential, recreational, and commercial components.

URA has previously announced a vision for Kampong Bugis as a car-lite, community-centric neighbourhood with sustainability features. The original master developer concept was meant to ensure cohesive planning across the precinct. Even with the partial shift away from that approach, the broader planning intent remains to transform the waterfront into a more vibrant residential enclave.

From a planning perspective, increased density could be seen as a reflection of the confidence in developing this precinct. While individual stacks may face the risk of view obstruction, the overall district is being positioned for long-term uplift, with improved public spaces, better pedestrian connectivity, and a strengthened waterfront identity.

So far, transaction data suggests that buyers are not making aggressive downward adjustments purely based on the view risk. Instead, the market appears to be balancing potential short-term obstruction against the longer-term transformation of the district.

So, are south-facing units already discounted?

Based on available resale data, there is no clear evidence of uniform underperformance among the river-facing stacks at Kallang Riverside.

One stack has recorded negative growth relative to launch, but the others have posted moderate to strong gains. Two of the four river-facing stacks rank among the better performers within the development. Meanwhile, neighbouring projects continue to transact at firm numbers, suggesting sustained demand for waterfront living in this precinct.

For now, the market appears to be pricing in uncertainty rather than inevitability. Until clearer development details emerge, the numbers suggest that while river views may face potential risk, they have not yet been decisively priced out.

You can read our earlier write up of the development plans surrounding Kampong Bugis here.