“Location, location, location” is a popular property saying that dates all the way back to 1926 (when it appeared in print.)
One of the first areas that come to mind when I hear this phrase, in the Singapore context, is Jalan Mutiara, a tiny landed enclave consisting of around 13 terrace houses and several high-rise apartments. The area is so central and so well-located that you can walk to Valley Point in 7 minutes and Great World City in 9. (I don’t know how many of you still remember the days when Great World used to be a “dead” mall with not much to do, but these days it has almost all the conveniences you could need, including a MRT station at its doorstep.) For those who enjoy a longer walk, ION Orchard is also only 19 minutes away on foot!
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As shown above, you really get the best of all worlds here as in addition to posh malls, you are also walking distance to local hawker food (namely Zion Riverside Food Centre, which is 9 minutes away and one of the prettier hawker centres thanks to its waterside location.) Via Zion Riverside Food Centre, you can also access the Singapore River (i.e. Robertson Quay) and Alexandra Park Connector.
Since we’re on the subject of the nearby amenities, let’s start today’s tour by walking out to the main road.
The landed houses are actually located in the inner part (not very deep in) of the estate whilst the apartments are located on the “outside.” Here we are with the houses behind us and the main road (River Valley Road) in front of us. On our right is one of several older apartments in the area (low-rise and, I believe, walk-up.)
Despite how busy River Valley Road is, there wasn’t much road noise here (and almost none when standing outside the terrace houses.)
Directly opposite the estate are a few eateries, such as Boon Tong Kee, Partners in Crime, and fennel by Komala Vilas. There is also a small fitness outlet, 7-11, and the Modern Indian Grocer. (About 4 minutes walk away.) Walk straight down and you’ll find a church and then Zion Riverside Food Centre.As shown, there is no traffic light here, but there is one to the left, as well as an overhead bridge to the right. Walk this way to get to Valley Point.Now looking to the left (other direction.) This is also the way to Orchard.Behind the traffic light are a few more commercial units, such as another gym, nail bar, and a Brighton Montessori. If you continue walking straight down, you’ll eventually find Great World on your right.If 10 minutes is too far to walk to the MRT, there’s a bus stop right outside the entrance of the estate. However, only 2 buses stop here: 14 and 65. (You’ll find many more buses stop not far away, along Hoot Kiam Road, which bisects River Valley Road.)Hoot Kiam Road.Looking in the other direction, towards Zion Road, where you’ll find MORE shophouses, cafes, etc.
We’ve seen quite a bit of the surrounding area so let’s head back to Jalan Mutiara.
Walking back.The older apartment I mentioned - I believe this is the oldest apartment building in this estate.One of the high-rise apartments.I typically find landed estates with high-rise developments quite oppressive due to the towering skyscrapers looming over the landed houses. However, it’s not that bad here, because the apartments are mostly on the fork to the left, and the landed houses on the fork to the right. (The street splits into two, and the apartments and houses are separated.)Let’s look at the apartments first. The first one we pass is Latitude. I was curious and googled the condo. The units have a great unblocked view (and a huge balcony which I love.) Opposite Latitude is Mutiara View. For those who think a balocny is a waste of space, this is the condo for you.Blue House Kindergarten is next to the entrance of Mutiara View, at the end of the cul-de-sac.Next to the kindergarten is the only detached house in this estate (i.e. the largest property here.)The driveway is big enough to be used as a basketball court!
We’ve seen almost everything here, so let’s head to the fork with the terrace houses now.
Retracing our steps, we pass a 3rd condo, M5. This is a tiny condo with only 33 units.With the condos to our right, the main road in front of us, and the terrace units behind. On this stretch, we find another 4 condos: Mutiara Crest, The Montana, and RV Suites.Now I LOVE this location but I’ll be the first one to admit that it’s pretty high-density for such a small enclave. (There is only one way to exit/ enter the enclave and with so many residents, things can get quite crowded during peak hours. 33 units at M5 + 64 units at Mutiara View + 127 units at Altitude + 108 units at The Montana + 37 units at Mutiara Crest + 96 units at RV Suites make up over 400 apartments!)
One of the reasons people want to live in a landed property is to enjoy a more spacious way of life and I’m not sure you’ll find that here, sharing one exit/entrance with 400+ units! What do you think?
We take the other fork and reach the landed houses.It’s a tiny stretch - you can see till the end of the road from here.Most of the houses are still in 2-storey condition and there’s a lot of room to go higher, as shown above.A photo of a lorry on the road so you can gauge how wide it is. I’d say it’s quite average in width- perfectly serviceable for 2 vehicles to drive side-by-side IF people do not park on the street.Unfortunately, as you can see, that is not the case here. The road outside the terrace houses was lined with cars and I was almost unable to get a parking space. (I got the last one, lucky me.) This is a personal opinion, but I think I would get quite frustrated driving in and out of this estate if I lived towards the end of the street. (Since it would involve pulling into the driveways every time a car in the opposite direction appeared and drivers in Singapore aren’t always the best at giving way.)The houses are also right across from the pool of the opposite condo which can get a bit noisy once the kids are all out. However, as this area is not within 1 km of many Primary schools, you may not get as many young kids here.A redevelopment project was in progress when I visited.As there are so few units, we can get up close and personal with almost every one. These 2 are quite interesting as they are located on land of different heights. Just look at how much taller the one on the right is, even though they’re both 2 stories.Looking back at where we came from. For now, the houses on the left aren’t blocked by too many high-rise apartments.See what I mean about the full parking situation?At the end of the street, we find the tennis courts of Regency Park condo. (There was a game in session when I arrived but it wasn’t too noisy.)
That brings us to the end of today’s tour! How did you find the estate? At the time of writing, there was only one unit for sale - a corner terrace at $10.5 million. Let me know if you think it’s worth the price in the comments!
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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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