Neighbouring towns like Kovan hinge on the possible prospect, with Defu Industrial City bordering on completion.
Earlier yesterday (26 March), a press release by LTA announced it awarded the contract to design and construct Hougang interchange station and tunnels for the Cross Island Line (CRL) to Samsung C&T Corporation, with the works amounting to $604 million. It includes the addition and alteration works to the existing Hougang station. Works are to begin in Q4 2021, with train operations and passenger service for the Cross Island Line planned to start by 2030.
In short? The Cross Island Line is underway for Hougang. The beloved neighbourhood has been rather quiet in terms of transformation compared to areas mentioned in our previous articles like the Greater Southern Waterfront, Bugis and Great World, but it is definitely good news for North-east siders.
Proposed area for the upcoming Hougang MRT Interchange (in brown). Dark blue is the commercial & residential, while yellow are reserved sites.
While this CRL news is not new (no, really, it was actually announced back in 2013), and Hougang residents have been used to the North East Line, this improves the connectivity to Serangoon North, Defu (Sin Ming area), Tavistock and Tampines North (Loyang Industrial Area), shaving off nearly 20 minutes travelling time.
But why is PropertyLimBrothers excited about it? District 19 is one of our favourite areas, and with the government’s initiative to decentralise the Central Business District, we anticipated chess pieces to be moved to hasten this.
Here’s what we think can happen with this move and timeline.
Prices in Hougang will undoubtedly rise, but don’t expect an exponential trend.
District 19 trends Mar 2021 courtesy Squarefoot.
From the graph, you can observe how despite cooling measures being introduced from 2011-2018, the PSF prices dipped but recovered, growing to a healthy current average of $1,276 PSF for non-landed residences (condos, ECs, apartments). Recent transactions include Affinity at Serangoon, The Florence Residences and Riverfront Residences, averaging at $16XX PSF, $17XX PSF and $13XX PSF respectively.
We can infer that this stability is definitely well-welcomed, and a reason why this announcement will push prices in District 19 both in new launches and resale for condos and in turn, HDBs.
District 17 trends Mar 2021 courtesy Squarefoot.
From the graph above, District 17, which resides the Loyang area, has been experiencing a general increase in take-up rate, following with rising prices with the last median for non-landed residential recorded at $1,122 PSF. Recent transactions include healthy take-ups with The Jovell. This is probably due to announcements of the upgrading of the Changi Aviation Park and Changi City and the Cross-Island Line which is due for completion a year earlier.
Will Hougang be a mature estate?
Currently, Hougang, Serangoon North and Kovan is still considered a non-mature estate. But the crux for buyers, sellers and investors interested in the Hougang precinct will be when will it turn into a mature estate? It will definitely create potential exit strategies, and boost interest in the locale.
A broad stroke will define estates more than 20 years old to be considered a matured estate. Residents for mature estates usually have
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Improved amenities
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Better accessibility
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Higher prices
The recent exception is the Bidadari area, which was sold to buyers as a mature estate as part of Toa Payoh town (due to its central location and probably due to its bid). While no major malls have been announced in the Bidadari town, 50-70% of home owners have already moved into their homes.
Currently, there are 12 non-mature estates in Singapore.
From the table, Hougang, Sengkang and Punggol are the precincts in District 19 leading the average PSF of condos by $1,279 PSF. Although the $1,231 PSF for landed is not leading the non-mature estates, they are coming a close second. This does indicate to us how its performance should maintain.
Recently, we released how strata landed developments are trending right now, and especially in D19. For more of that, come check out our Insights here.
Future development in Hougang and beyond
Yellow areas are reserved sites, light blue sections the commercial and residential (existing) and dark blue are commercial sites.
While the CRL (Cross-Island Line) is underway, we have to also take note on the developments around the area, and where we can theorise residential developments. From this map, the yellow marked areas are Reserve Sites, which from recently-developed towns, URA favours mixed-use developments. These potential land that may house residential units will undoubtedly regain interest within the Hougang area, and indirectly raise prices of Midtown Residences and the surrounding HDB blocks. Rest assured, we’ll be keeping an eye out for that one.
Added accessibility to upcoming Defu Industrial City
Defu Industrial courtesy JTC
Another reason why this Hougang Interchange station news is elating for discerning homebuyers, will be its accessibility to the upcoming Defu Industrial City. Slated for completion in 2021, we can expect it to be delayed due to the pandemic. It will be the “flagship stack-up complex”. Based on JTC news, which is in charge of the redevelopments batch, the industrial district will host 3.52 million sq ft of space (GFA), featuring sustainable initiatives, landscaping and conveniences to accompany the buildings. While a planned rooftop purpose-built dormitory does provide added benefit for workers, accessible tenancy should raise demands in areas such as Hougang, which is the closest station to Defu MRT Station, which is along the Cross Island Lane. On a side note, Tampines North is considered the next station after Defu MRT Station, though geographically, Hougang and Serangoon are nearer.
Ending note
What we can also expect is other neighbouring areas such as Serangoon North, Tavistock and Defu to be the next hot areas in the next few years, as developments will be leveraging on this welcoming news.
In summary, our PropertyLimBrothers family definitely has seen how D19 transformed over the years (co-founders Adrian and Melvin grew up here), and we are looking forward to what Hougang’s future development has in store for all of us. For more of our list of insights, and where we feel developments are going to thrive, do visit our link here, or feel free to contact our team here.
