Last Saturday, in his National Day Rally Speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke of exciting developments in the Jurong Lake District, including the expansion of the gardens and a possible terminal for a high-speed train.
Jurong East HDB Town has been one of the bright spots during the Cooling Measures. The SRX Transaction-over-X Value (T-O-X) for Jurong East has been consistently positive this year, which means people are buying property above the computer-generated market value. (In most areas, T-O-X has been in negative territory.)
Why is Jurong Lake District property outperforming the market?
The answer is that residents and investors recognize the potential of this area and are bidding up the price of property, in spite of the Cooling Measures.
A price increase is how the real estate market says “good job” to the government, urban planners, commercial developers, and everyone else who’s upgrading Jurong and other areas.
One of the advantages of being a Singapore property investor is that the government is very transparent in their plans for the country. As a result, there are a number of resources that help investors recognize areas that might present buying opportunities.
For example, smart investors and property buyers study the Urban Development Authority (URA) Master Plan with great interest. If you go to the latest plan, you will learn about efforts to develop Bidadari, Tampines North, and Tengah. You will learn about trends and projects involving Green and Sustainable Living. There’s tons of information that will give you clues as to areas that are worth investigating for possible property investment opportunities.
A good source of background information is the government’s White Paper and key ministerial speeches. They give you a feel for the general, high level direction of the country, particularly in the area of population growth and economic development. By knowing how the population will grow, in terms of rate and demographic mix, you can quantify future demand for property. As an investor or home buyer, you want to put yourself in locations that will benefit from greater demand for Singapore property.
Without question, part of the job of being a successful property investor or a shrewd home buyer is regularly to identify and monitor plans for housing, transportation, recreational districts, shopping smalls, and business centers.
In fact, SRX has coined a property investment rule for this called the Urban Planning Rule. This rule states that by reviewing public documents (e.g., URA Master Plan), investors and their advisors can identify areas that are up-and-coming and worthy of consideration for investment in Singapore residential property.
One word of caution, though. The Urban Planning Rule is no secret to knowledgeable investors. This means that by the time you read a glowing report about a new area in the general media, the professionals have already scoured through the relevant data and documents and made their move.
As such, if you don’t do your research and get into the game early, you may find yourself priced out of the market.