Balancing Property Savings, Beer, and Commuting
Say you’re a social animal and like to have a pint (or two) in a noisy pub before you return home after a hard day’s work. Clarke Quay is as good a place as any. It’s good for people watching, and there are plenty of bars and restaurants from which to choose.
Clarke Quay has the added advantage of having its own station on the North-East MRT Line. If you’ve had one too many, you can safely return home to any condo within walking distance of this line.
Now, if you really like your beer, you want to maximize your time in the pub and minimize your time getting home. This means the ideal location for your condo would be Clarke Quay. No commuting time on the MRT.
The problem, though, is that Clarke Quay property is relatively expensive. Apartments near Clarke Quay rank third highest in terms of price per square foot as measured against all condos within one kilometre of a North-East MRT station.
There must be a better balance between low home prices, beer drinking, and commuting time.
Let’s turn to SRX Property to find that better balance.
In terms of home prices, Sengkang has the lowest median price-per-square foot at $733. If you were to live there, you would achieve two of your three goals. You would pay the lowest psf and save the most money, which, of course, you would spend on beer.
In terms of beer, your property savings on a 1,000 square foot flat would be equivalent to the cost of 63,786 pints at $14 a pop. (Yes, I know. A home is not the only thing that’s expensive in Clarke Quay.)
The downside is that you would have the second longest commute at 23 minutes.
To recap, Sengkang gives you the lowest property price at $733 psf, the highest quantity of savings in beer at 63,786 pints, and the second worst commute to Clarke Quay at 23 minutes.
Sounds good? Yes, but it’s not the optimal solution. The problem is that, if you were to drink two pints every evening, it would take you 87.4 years to consume your property savings.
Therefore, a commute of 23 minutes from Clarke Quay doesn’t seem like a good trade-off for savings that you could not possibly drink in a lifetime.
There must be a better balance.
We would submit the better balance between home prices, beer drinking, and commuting time can be found at Woodleigh.
There, the median private resale PSF is $1,008 or 38% cheaper than that of Clarke Quay.
Its savings per 10,000 pint at 4.41 is better than that of neighbouring stations closer in (i.e., Potong Pasir and Boon Keng) and those further away from Clarke Quay (i.e., Serangoon and Kovan).
Woodleigh’s commuting time from Clarke Quay is not bad at 13 minutes and certainly better than that of Sengkang.
Finally, you would save the equivalent of 44,143 pints by living in Woodleigh. It would take you only 60.5 years to consume two beers a night. And, if you went crazy, you could consume four pints a night in 30.2 years. Very manageable.
In the case of Sengkang, you would save enough
Ultimately, the balance you choose depends on the relative importance of property savings to beer drinking to commuting time. It’s your decision.
However, I would think twice about Dhoby Ghaut.
Condos there are more expensive than those near Clarke Quay so you start 10,286 pints in the hole and it will take you 14.1 years to catch up.
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