Lessons from Singapore's top-performing two-bedder condos, showing how size, tenure, and neighbourhood timing shaped returns more than common buyer assumptions…
When news of the development of the Great Southern Waterfront was released, there was a lot of buzz about properties in the Pasir Panjang area, such as Kent Ridge Hill Residences. However, did you know that there is also a handful of landed properties in the area? One of the small landed enclaves in the vicinity is the Chwee Chian Estate area which consists of Chwee Chian Road (a S-shaped road off Pasir Panjang Road named after Lim Chwee Chian), Chwee Chian View, Lorong Sari, Lorong Sarhad and Siok Wan Close.
Today we’ll be doing a walkabout of the enclave to see what it would be like living in the backyard of the Great Southern Waterfront (GSW)!
Landed markets are thinner and less transparent than condo markets. Good comparables can be difficult to find, and an enclave often behaves very differently from another just a few streets away.
That’s where a second opinion can be valuable: benchmarking a specific property against comparable transactions, understanding what you’re really paying for, and weighing whether it makes sense for your own plans.
Over time, that’s also why we decided to work with agents who shared the same data-driven and advisory-led approach behind our editorial, consultants who could help readers think through decisions more objectively, rather than simply push transactions.
Today, the team has worked with more than 2,000 clients across over $5B in property transactions.
Note: for more info on the GSW, check out these videos by Straits Times in 2019 and 2022.
Speaking of Kent Ridge Hill Residences, it’s actually right next to Chwee Chian! Here’s a photo of it, taken from within Chwee Chian Estate. The 2 are separated by a large drain.
One thing to note is that Chwee Chian Estate appears to be on lower-lying ground than the land on which Kent Ridge Hill stands on (South Buona Vista Road). However, when I googled for “Chwee Chian Road” and “flooding” nothing relevant came up, nor do I remember this estate being listed amongst the most flood-prone areas of Singapore. (The neighbouring landed estate, Jalan Mat Jambol, apparently does suffer from floods, according to the News articles that I read).
From what I could see, there is no short-cut to climb up to South Buona Vista Road from Chwee Chian – you would need to walk out via Lorong Sarhad then turn back into South Buona Vista Road.
There’s also a small stretch of grass next to the drain which leads out to the main road.Here’s a zoomed out view of Kent Ridge Hill Residences taken from within the estate.Photo of a super quaint house I saw during my walkabout. Pasir Panjang has a few really interesting houses. I used to tutor a girl who lived in the area, and her house was still in original condition – built on stilts!!Here’s the Masterplan of the area. As you can see, landed houses are quite few and far between in the Pasir Panjang area, with most of the landed houses found in the Jalan Mat Jambol area, which is next to Chwee Chian.
The properties within Chwee Chian range from low-rise condos (zoned 1.4 or 5-stories) to terrace houses, semi-Ds and what looks to be 1 or 2 detached homes. Something interesting to note is that the landed properties are also zoned as 1.4 so it may be possible to redevelop them into low-rise condos (in absence of other restrictions.)
Something else to note is that apart from a few houses at Vista Terrace, Lorong Sarhad and Chwee Chian View which have the prime North-South facing, most of the landed properties unfortunately are East-West facing (generally the less desired facing in Singapore as it’s thought to get the full blast of the morning and afternoon sun.)
Some of the semi-Ds that can be found in the estate.A row of terrace houses within the estate – the way these are built they actually look like semi-Ds from a distance, as part of the house is recessed. Also note how these terraced houses are quite large. The driveways can fit 2-3 cars! Another view of the same row of houses – they look like semi-Ds from this angle!One of the condos within the estate. Banyan Condo is quite a small condo with only 104 units developed by Far East. Somewhat interestingly, at the time of writing, there were no units for sale but 28 listings for rent!
Note: for those who believe in numerology, Banyan Condo is located at 1 Chwee Chian Road! (Some people like properties with the number 1 in them.)
The entrance to the condo – quite impressive for 1 with only 100+ units I would say! It is also a full-facility condo, with tennis court, pool and even sauna!Banyan Condo is located towards the Pasir Panjang Road end of the estate. Although there is a highway right above the entrance into the estate, I couldn’t hear any road noise when I was deeper within the landed enclave.
Along Pasir Panjang Road, you can find 2 MRT stations: Haw Par Villa MRT if you take the road to the right of the photo, and Pasir Panjang MRT to the left of the photo. Both are about 10-20 minutes away, depending on which street your house is located on, making the area quite convenient for public transport. (There are also bus stops, which I will cover later in the article.)
The road to the right that takes you to Haw Par Villa MRT. (Not many other amenities located this way, to be honest, unless you count Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, a billiard salon and a car mart? If you continue walking 30 minutes down in a straight line, you will reach West Coast Park, and if you walk for 60 minutes, you’ll reach the West Coast Park MacDonalds.)The road to the left that takes you to Pasir Panjang MRT. There are a few landed houses located along the main road but, to be honest, I would say the location leaves a lot to be desired (you get the full blast of pollution and noise from Pasir Panjang Road and the Highway above.)
Happily, there are many more shops and eateries this way. Opposite Pasir Panjang MRT is Bijou, a mixed used condo, which has a yoga studio, an Italian restaurant, oyster place and Hao Mart.) Next to Bijou is a row of shophouses with Ashmi Indian Food, 3 Monkeys fusion food, Esarn Thai food, etc. There is even a live seafood restaurant – a boon for keen home cooks! At the foot of Pasir Panjang MRT, there is a hawker centre, so you can see you are spoilt for choice towards this end.
You are also only a few stops away from Vivo City, Singapore’s largest shopping Mall (3 stops by MRT or 3 direct buses), and Sentosa.
For those who drive, there are 2 petrol stations just a stone’s throw away (Shell and SPC.)
PSA: apparently mosquitos can breed in the hardened soil in your plant pots too!
More of the landed houses in the estate. Most are in original vintage condition, but this one appears to have been rebuilt.Another rebuilt house – you can see there’s ample room to maximise the plot ratio for some of the properties here!As you can see, the enclave is pretty spacious and it is relatively easy for your guests to find street side parking in the cul-de-sacs.However, you can’t park along the “main” road within the estate.From the estate, you can see all the way to Hort Park, which you can access via a staircase in Jalan Mat Jambol.This canal links the 2 estates (Jalan Mat Jambol and Chwee Chian): note that there are 2 side paths alongside the canal!Pasir Panjang has always had the reputation of being popular with expatriates and when I was doing my walkabout, I did see several expatriate families walking around trick-and-treating.One thing to point out is that there is a large temple, Poh Ern Shih Temple, which also has a Montesorri Childcare Centre within it. Places of worship sometimes get accused of being noisy – when I visited, the temple wasn’t in session so it was very quiet. According to several Google reviews, the temple is very tranquil and serene, but I would recommend visiting on a busy day to see if you are comfortable with the noise level if purchasing a property right next door!
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Close-up so you can admire the architecture. It’s a dotted white line outside, so temple visitors have spaces to park. A short walk away, there is also a very small playground and outdoor exercise area.I didn’t see or hear any kids in the area (besides the ones going trick or treating) when I visited. This could be because there aren’t many local educational institutions in Pasir Panjang, although it is a short drive to schools such as NUS, INSEAD and ACJC. (Unfortunately, properties within 1 km of primary schools are usually more in-demand than those closer to other types of schools.)
However, there is a plot of land zoned educational near Pasir Panjang MRT, so we may see more development in this area soon.
On the note of places of worship, at the other entrance into the estate (Lorong Sarhad), off South Buona Vista Road, there is a mosque, Masjid Ahmad.
Note: there is also a bus stop located at this entrance, but only one bus (200) comes this way. The bus stop next to the Pasir Panjang Road entrance has many more choices (10,30, 51, 143, 175, 176 and 188.)
A few steps from Masjid Ahmad is a row of shophouses, which includes Baker & Cook, Plank Pizza, an Irish Pub and 99 Buona Vista Kitchen – very convenient for residents to stroll out for dinner!
There isn’t much space to park along these shophouses, so customers may spill over to park in the estate (and, indeed, Lorong Sari was the only part of the estate in which I saw rubbish bins used to reserve parking spaces.)A glimpse of the meagre amount of parking spaces outside the shophouses.There are also some landed properties across the road from the shophouses, which are located on slightly elevated land.One of which has been turned into a guest house. (K2 guesthouse has an average 4.2 rating of over 100 reviews, and is apparently a 2-star hotel.)Peek into 99 Buona Vista Kitchen, which has more seating along the alley next to it.If you walk down from the shophouses, along this road, you will soon reach Pasir Panjang Road. (More houses along this stretch.)If you focus, you can see the cranes of Pasir Panjang Port in the distance.Some of the houses that line the road – you can see they have terrifically long driveways. I think you could park maybe 4 cars? (The long driveways also make it MUCH easier to enter and exit the houses!)
The houses are built somewhat similar to Victoria Park Villas, where the garden is located on the 1st floor and not the ground floor – I do think that is a very practical design as it would be much more pleasant sitting in an elevated garden!
Across the road is another small mixed-use development, Viva Vista, which has some shops on the ground floor. It’s called a “shopping mall” but there aren’t that many commercial units – according to the (non-flattering) Google reviews, the stores in the basement have even been turned into storage areas!
There are no big brand names here – but you can find a laundry shop, a curry place, a handbag spa, a dry cleaners, a flower shop and 2 bars which, in the words of a Google review, “open till ‘quite late’ if u know what i mean.”
Note: there’s a 3rd vehicular entrance into Chwee Chian estate located just opposite Viva Vista, which leads into Lorong Sari. I am really impressed that such a small collection of houses has THREE exits and entrances for cars!
A photo of Lorong Sari and the previously-mentioned rubbish bins used to “chope” car park space.Mostly terrace houses along this street – as you can see from this photo, some of the houses have split levels.From Lorong Sari, you can see the cranes in the distance too. Lorong Sari connects to Lorong Sarhad. Some of the houses along Lorong Sarhad. By not closing the gate, you can fit 2 cars even though they’re smaller terrace units.Another boutique condo along Lorong Sarhad – you can see all the way to Kent Ridge Hill Residences and Hort Park if you peek through the grounds (the brown building in the distance.)And this brings us full circle back to the temple (in the background) and playground (on the left of the photo, behind the trees) I photographed earlier. Besides the Montessori at the temple, by the way, there’s another childcare centre within this estate (Little Kinder Montessori, located near this part of Chwee Chian) and 2 more within a 500m distance, as well as 2 kindergartens.The estate has several cul-de-sacs (convenient parking spaces!) and, from this one, you can see into the next estate – the red tiled roofs belong to the houses in Jalan Mat Jambol.
Now that we’ve finished our tour of the estate, how did you find it? Personally, I think Pasir Panjang is quite underrated in terms of liveability. Prices have risen a lot after the news of the GSW was released but a lot of people I speak to still think it is very far out and inconvenient. It’s actually pretty central in terms of the time taken to travel to the CBD as well as many other parts of Singapore!
We’ve now come to the end of our walkabout. Don’t forget to give me a shout out in the comments below if there’s another estate you’d like to see featured! I still have a couple to work my way through but promise to get round to your request as soon as possible!
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Frequently asked questions
What types of properties are available in Chwee Chian Estate?
Chwee Chian Estate features low-rise condos, terrace houses, semi-detached homes, and possibly some detached houses. The properties include low-rise condos zoned for redevelopment and landed houses, mostly in vintage condition.
Is Chwee Chian Estate prone to flooding?
There are no relevant reports of flooding in Chwee Chian Estate, and it does not appear to be listed among flood-prone areas. It is on lower-lying ground than nearby land, but flooding does not seem to be a significant issue.
How accessible is Chwee Chian Estate by public transportation?
Chwee Chian Estate is conveniently located near two MRT stations: Haw Par Villa and Pasir Panjang, both about 10-20 minutes away. There are also multiple bus stops serving the area, with more options at Pasir Panjang MRT.
What amenities and facilities are near Chwee Chian Estate?
Nearby amenities include shops, eateries, a hawker centre, and a mixed-use condo called Bijou. There are also recreational spots like West Coast Park, and places of worship such as Poh Ern Shih Temple and Masjid Ahmad.
What is the current property price range in Chwee Chian Estate?
Prices range from around $1.8 million for a freehold condo to over $6 million for semi-D and detached houses. Terrace houses sold in 2022 ranged from $3.7 million to $5.8 million.
Are there any notable features or attractions within Chwee Chian Estate?
The estate has spacious, vintage-style houses with large driveways, a small condo with full facilities, and proximity to parks, temples, and a canal linking neighboring estates. It offers a quiet, spacious environment with good access to nature and amenities.
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
2 Comments
Wannee
Hi TJ, I have really enjoyed your walkabout of the various landed estates. They are really so varied.
Can you tour the landed estate behind Bartley mrt – Bartley Villas and How Sun Garden estate (sandwiched between Bartley Rd and Upper Paya Lebar Road}?
2 Comments
Hi TJ, I have really enjoyed your walkabout of the various landed estates. They are really so varied.
Can you tour the landed estate behind Bartley mrt – Bartley Villas and How Sun Garden estate (sandwiched between Bartley Rd and Upper Paya Lebar Road}?