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What $11.3 Million Buys You In Katong: A Closer Look At Prime Freehold Landed Homes In Singapore
Published 9 Dec 2024 | 0 comments | 0 shares | 7min read
BY TJPublished 9 Dec 20240 comments | 7min read
BY TJ
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
Some time back, we visited Swanage Road in Katong, where you can find terrace houses located within walking distance of many cafes, restaurants, shops, Chung Cheng High School, and Tanjong Katong Girls’ School. (Landed houses can sometimes be rather removed from amenities hence the appeal.) If you liked what you saw, but need more space, consider the parallel road: Wareham Road, where you’ll find larger properties (and corresponding larger price tags – at the time of writing, there was a detached house advertised for sale at $17.5 million.)
According to the PropertyGuru ad, the plot is large enough to be turned into 2 semi-detached houses, so it’s quite sizeable.And, as you can see from the Masterplan, the houses here are approximately twice the size (or larger) than those at Swanage Road. Moreover, although it’s walking distance to Dunman Road, the houses at Wareham Road are buffered by the Swanage properties, so there is less road noise.The end of the street furthest Tanjong Katong Road meets Grand Dunman, which was under construction when I visited. There is a small canal dividing the condo from Wareham Road. Grand Dunman is going to be a mega development with over 1,000 units, so the feel of the area may change substantially. At the time of visiting, there were no high-rise buildings immediately next to Wareham Road, making it feel open and spacious. When the Grand Dunman blocks are up, that may change. However, on the bright side, the condo looks like it will have a separate entrance (since there is a canal dividing Wareham Road and the condo) so at least Wareham Road won’t get too congested.As shown on Google maps, there is no playground near this landed enclave, something which parents of young children may have use of.Wareham Road house in foreground, cranes showing where condo will be in background.You can still find vintage houses in the East, such as this one, which gives the neighbourhood lots of character.Some of the properties here have large plot sizes but equally large driveways – a plus if you have several cars, but some people prefer having a larger percentage of internal space. (Perhaps because of these long driveways, the street was less cluttered than Swanage Road and it was easier to drive in and out. However, I was still unable to find parking on Wareham Road, and had to walk over from somewhere else. (This could be due to Wareham Road’s proximity to the commercial units, so patrons of the restaurants and shops may park here.)Another single storey house – an increasingly rare sight in Singapore (but also an opportunity to “maximise the plot ratio.”)Looking back at the Grand Dunman site – see what I mean about relatively clear streets?Wareham Road is bisected by Crescent Road – if you follow Crescent Road, you’ll reach Dunman Road on one end (closer to our landed enclave) and Mountbatten Road on the other. Mountbatten Road is pretty residential (you don’t really find shops or restaurants there) but walk past it and you’ll reach East Coast Park, which is a great place to relax and take a nice walk.Walking back from Mountbatten Road and walking towards Dunman Road here – you can see it’s very close to Wareham Road, so not far to walk.Now walking down Wareham Road – we’re getting closer to the commercial units, and you can see that there are more vehicles parked on the street. The dustbins to reserve carpark spaces have also started making an appearance.See what I mean?Some of the houses you find along Wareham Road.Towards the Tanjong Katong junction, it can also get a bit difficult to walk, as the flowerpots and gates of the houses block the pedestrian path and there is a fair number of cars traveling down the street.Another vintage property.So far, we’ve seen mostly detached units, but there are also a few semi-Ds.Many properties look like they date to the 90s or earlier, but there are one or two more modern builds too.Towards the Tanjong Katong Junction, the road starts curving slightly.We’re almost at the end of Wareham Road here, the grey block behind the buses house eateries such as an Indian vegetarian and 6 Letter Coffe on the ground floor.Being located close to food stalls can raise the concern of pests such as rats. Thankfully, there is an empty plot separating the houses from the commercial units here to provide some buffer.And here we are at the end of Wareham Road, where it meets Tanjong Katong Road. On the right you’ll find the closest bus stop with MANY bus connections – 10, 31, 32, 40, 43, 43e, 134, 135, 197, and 853M. It’s also to the right that you find the closest traffic light for crossing the street.On the left there’s a petrol station (there’s another one across the street if you don’t pump with SPC) so an easy place to get emergency supplies. Let’s head to the right first. The first shop is some kind of car shop (there are lots of tyres outside it) so not super interesting for people who are not car enthusiasts.We also find a shop for pregnant mothers, a fusion vegetarian, a durian centre, a coffee shop, a bak kut teh shop, a fried chicken place, a spa, and Ponggol nasi lemak (amongst others.)As highlighted earlier, if you’re not a SPC customer, there’s also a Caltex station a stone’s throw away.We’re going to cross the road here and head on over to the other side (also where you find Tanjong Katong Girls School.) The durian shop.As shown, TKGS is behind the Caltex – definitely walking distance if you live along Wareham Road.If your friends and family visit and can’t find a parking space, there is also a small car park behind Caltex. Next to Caltex is a small kopitiam where you can find local food – this is what you see sitting at one of the tables.The East is famous for its food, so I couldn’t pass up on a good local breakfast. (The noodles have my stamp of approval and were good enough that the photo is making me crave Singaporean food – I’ve been in the UK for the last few weeks getting material for new site on car-free travel from London so I haven’t indulged in a while)Across the road, you also find a medical clinic (very useful.) I love the “Chinese-y’ roof of one of the shophouses we see above- the East has so much character!
There are many more restaurants and shops if we continue walking along Tanjong Katong Road but it’s more of the same, so I won’t bore you with more photos. Just note that if you keep walking down this road, you’ll eventually reach Tanjong Katong MRT station. (About 20 minutes walk from Wareham Road. Dakota MRT station is much closer, at about 8 minutes on foot.) And, obviously, there is no shortage of places for Wareham Road residents to explore and eat at in their neighbourhood.
That brings us to the end of today’s walkabout. How did you find the estate? Let me know in the comments!
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
