The True Value of a Regional Centre

Since the early 1990’s, Singapore has continuously been striving to decentralise the City Business District (CBD) in favour of the suburban towns around the country. The goal has always been to encourage residents living in the extreme eastern, western and northern sector of Singapore to have a bustling and vibrant town. That means providing each town with the same amenities one can find in the CBD or better.

view of OCBC building in Tampines

That project led to the development of Singapore’s first regional centre in 1992, Tampines Town. A suburban town that has repeatedly introduced many new and exciting facilities to its residents. In fact, just within the last year, we’ve seen the grand opening of Our Tampines Hub, the first integrated lifestyle hub as well as three new MRT stations (Downtown Line) within Tampines alone. 

And in the next few years, we are expecting even more private homes like The Tapestry  and The Santorini at Tampines North. Part of the master plan to provide 21,000 new homes for Singaporeans.

26 years since this project started, we have begun to see the many fruits of that idea. And now, we want to decide if Tampines has earned its value as a true regional centre.

What Makes A Regional Centre Highly Sought After

While there isn’t any official benchmark or standards to rate a suburban town, a crude indicator of the value of a town is through its property and land prices. Interestingly, when compared with towns like Jurong and Yishun, the price of a new condominium apartment is comparatively lower in Tampines. Based on this information alone, it might appear that Tampines isn’t as sort after as the other towns.

However, the resale flats do tell a different story as this busy town has on average, outperformed some of its neighbouring towns. And this growth in prices is highly likely to continue within the next few years, especially as more property developers are bidding aggressively for the plot of land around the town.

Take the older estate of Tampines Court, Sim Lian Holdings shocked the industry when they were awarded the site for $970 million. Singapore hadn’t seen such figures for an en bloc sale since as far back as 2007.

Yet such news is becoming more common and frequent from this town, indicating a rising interest for the land area within this regional centre.

$370.1 Million Top Bid For Upcoming The Tapestry Plot Of Land

Again, just last year, property analysts and experts were shocked when property developer Bellevue Properties Pte. Ltd. won the bid for the plot of land URA marked as Tampines Avenue 10 Land Parcel C. Not many were expecting this outcome given that there was only a total of 9 bids. Yet, despite its lack of bids, it was the top bid that surprised many. Because at $370.1 million, Bellevue Properties Pte. Ltd. had outbid Kingsford development the 2nd highest bidder by 5.7 percent.

However, given the developer’s track record, we are expecting great things from this land deal and the foresight invested into this project. A spokesman for the project updated that the future condo will house its very own childcare centre within the estate. And that is just one major attraction. From this informative The Tapestry Condo website, we understand that there are as many as 52 facilities.

The Verdict

Since our foray into the Singapore property market scene, we’ve noticed an interesting trend in the development of properties between the different districts. Although Tampines as a town cannot compare with the upmarket districts like district 9 and district 1, it is certainly holding out on its own.

When we compare some of the upcoming new launches at Tampines with the recent premium condominiums like Wallich Residence at Tanjong Pagar or Martin Modern at Robertson Quay, there are huge distinct differences.

Nevertheless, as the first regional centre, this town has a lot to offer its residents. And despite the fact that it has already been 26 years in the making, the town is still promising a whole lot more to its residents.

In conclusion, while the prices of the property are an indicator of a town’s economical value, we believe that the other aspects play an equal or more important role. Especially when it comes to assessing the value of a regional centre. And in time to come, the overall value of the town just might surge as well.


Image used in this article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike 3.0 License

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