Neighbourhood Of The Week: Queenstown (District 3)

Queenstown is the first satellite town in Singapore. The entire concept of having a “self-contained” township, with its own council, amenities away from the city, etc. It all started here, as far back as the 1950s.

In fact, Queenstown is the iconic “mature estate”, and Buona Vista and Holland V both imitated Queenstown as a template when they got started (this was way back in the 1970s). Also, the first estate ever rebuilt under the Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) is also in Queenstown, since it has some of the oldest flats built by HDB.

Today, Queenstown is famous for its pricey, but much desired HDB flats. Haw Par Villa and Alexandra Hospital are both here by the way, as are the head offices of Grab and Razer. 

Facts about Queenstown

• District 3
• Approx. 20.43 km²
• Est. population of 96,340 in 2019, with density of around 4,717 per km² (considered low, as average density in Singapore is 8,358 per km²) 
• Commonwealth, Dover, Kent Ridge, Ghim Moh, One-North, and Tanglin Halt are all subzones of Queenstown 

Primary Schools 

• Fairfield Methodist School
• New Town Primary School
• Queenstown Primary School

Secondary Schools

• Anglo-Chinese School
• Fairfield Methodist School
• New Town Secondary School
• Queenstown Secondary School
• Queensway Secondary School

Other Schools

• Anglo-Chinese Junior College
• Anglo-Chinese International School 
• Management Development Institute of Singapore 
• National University of Singapore
• Singapore Institute of Technology
• Singapore Polytechnic
• Dover Court International School
• Global Indian International School
• INSEAD
• Tanglin Trust School
• United World College 

Malls

• Anchorpoint Shopping Centre
• IKEA Alexandra
• Queensway Shopping Centre
• Star Vista 

MRT station(s)

• Queenstown 
• Commonwealth 
• Buona Vista
• Dover
• Holland Village
• One-North
• Kent Ridge 
• Haw Par Villa
• Pasir Panjang

Average Flat Prices 

Across the board, the average flat price in Queenstown in the past 6 months is $564 psf. This is a 6.6 per cent increase from $529 psf, over the past 10 years. 

3-room flats

The average 3-room flat in Queenstown averages $470 psf. This is down 7.3 per cent from $507 psf, 10 years ago.

4-room flats

The average 4-room flat in Queenstown averages $652 psf. This is up 7.7 per cent from $605 psf, 10 years ago.

5-room flats

The average 5-room flat in Queenstown averages $662 psf. This is up 20.6 per cent from $549 psf, 10 years ago.

Overall Non-Landed Private Residential Prices in District 3

Average condo prices in District 3 (Alexandra, Commonwealth, Queenstown) average $2,012 psf in the last 6 months, up around 73.1 per cent from $1,162 psf 10 years ago.

Top 10 Projects Ranked By Capital Gain

Project Name	Tenure	Completion	Capital Gain (%)	Historical Price ($PSF)	Current Price ($PSF)
Eng Hoon Mansions	Freehold	2005	79.9	628	1,130
Clydesview	Freehold	1991	50.2	829	1,245
Regency at Tiong Bahru	Freehold	2010	46.3	1,378	2,016
Regency Suites	Freehold	2008	43.1	1,328	1,900
The Anchorage	Freehold	1997	39.3	1,053	1,467
Queensway Tower	Freehold	1976	37.9	704	971
Emerald Park	99 yrs	1993	31.1	970	1,272
Alexis	Freehold	2012	27.3	1,401	1,783
Twin Regency	Freehold	2007	25.2	1,438	1,801
Central Green Condominium	99 yrs	1995	23.2	1,056	1,301

Bottom 10 Projects Ranked By Capital Gain

Project Name	Tenure	Completion	Capital Gain (%)	Historical Price ($PSF)	Current Price ($PSF)
River Place	99 yrs	1999	1.9	1,276	1,300
Tanglin View	99 yrs	2001	7.6	1,204	1,296
Ascentia Sky	99 yrs	2013	8.2	1,311	1,419
Meraprime	99 yrs	2006	9.5	1,287	1,409
Queens	99 yrs	2002	11	1,073	1,191
Alessandrea	Freehold	2003	20.9	1,153	1,394
The Metropolitan Condominium	99 yrs	2009	22.8	1,230	1,511
Domain 21	99 yrs	2007	23	1,272	1,565
Central Green Condominium	99 yrs	1995	23.2	1,056	1,301
Twin Regency	Freehold	2007	25.2	1,438	1,801

Top 10 Projects Ranked By Rental Yield

Project Name	Tenure	Completion	Gross Yield (%)
Eng Hoon Mansions	Freehold	2005	4
Meraprime	99 yrs	2006	3.9
River Place	99 yrs	1999	3.4
Queens	99 yrs	2002	3.4
Echelon	99 yrs	2016	3.4
Domain 21	99 yrs	2007	3.4
Alex Residences	99 yrs	2017	3.3
Highline Residences	99 yrs	2018	3.2
Ascentia Sky	99 yrs	2013	3.2
Principal Garden	99 yrs	2018	3.2

Key drivers to note:

• One-North is a thriving tech and media hub
• Tertiary education institutes help maintain strong demand here
• More new flats are expected in Queenstown by 2027

1. One-North is a thriving tech and media hub

With the emergence of Fusionopolis, Mediapolis, and Biopolis, and the MediaCorp campus, One -North is now a hotspot for tech and media. The 200-hectare district is also home to some of the biggest R&D names in Singapore, such as A*Star labs, and ST Engineering (via the Innosparks Open Innovation Lab).

This cluster of companies also brings in foreign entrepreneurs and tech talent. However, look at the map of private residential properties, and you’ll see options are woefully limited in One-North itself (apart from One-North Residences). This leaves prospective tenants to seek out surrounding options, such as properties in the Buona Vista area, or Holland V. 

The presence of One-North has heightened rentability in many of the surrounding areas, although it’s to be seen if Covid-19 will change this.

2. Tertiary education institutes help maintain strong demand here

As you can see from our list above, there are a huge number of educational institutes in Queenstown. The major presences, however, are the NUS, Singapore Polytechnic, and MDIS. 

This has long made Queenstown a rental hotspot for students, all the way up to properties near One-North (where the condos are popular rental choices for INSEAD students). 

Again, we’ve yet to see if Covid-19 could change this; but landlords willing to rent to student tenants will find no shortage of demand here. Rental yield is not significantly higher than most parts of Singapore (around three per cent per annum across the board), but landlords can see high rentability with few vacancies. 

3. More new flats are expected in Queenstown in 2027

HDB plans for some 5,000 new flats in Queenstown, by the year 2027. The first batches of new flats could be launched as early as 2021 or 2022. 

Expect these to be oversubscribed, and even contentious – such a launch will push the conversation on whether it’s “fair” that some applicants can get flats in hotspots like Queenstown (it’s the equivalent of winning the HDB lottery). As such, we would expect BTO launches here – when they come – to be among the most expensive.

It is debatable whether the launch of new flats in Queenstown will affect the existing resale flat values. We have split opinions from the experts we asked. 

Some analysts and agents expressed that more flats will prevent the (already high) resale prices in Queenstown from climbing further. However, we’ve also heard opinions that the effect will be negligible, as those who buy resale flats are those who can’t buy BTO flats anyway (e.g. permanent resident families who don’t qualify for BTO, buyers who bust the income ceiling, those who can’t wait for construction, etc.)

It’s a little early to speculate; but brace yourself for the roaring demand if BTO flats are launched here. 

In the meantime, you can check out the top properties in Queenstown and other areas by following us on Stacked Homes.