When the HDB first announced plans back in 2013 to redevelop and transform Bidadari into a housing estate, there were a mixed bag of reactions.
Some were surprised and skeptical, as Bidadari was home to over 147,000 graves and redevelopment required relocating remains. Would people feel comfortable living in what was once a cemetery? Conversely, many were excited about the convenient location, as new housing estates in land-scarce Singapore are often situated further from the city centre, like Punggol and Tampines. The announcement felt like discovering a hidden gem.
Fast forward to today, the first batch of HDBs in Bidadari, including the Alkaff Vista project, has just crossed its 5-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP). This marks a pivotal moment as these flats can now enter the resale market, which will undoubtedly start yet another frantic flurry of activity for said flats to exchange hands.
4 million-dollar HDBs sold within 2 months after MOP
As they say, the proof is in the pudding, and we certainly have all the deets to highlight how popular and highly-coveted Bidadari is. Shortly after its 5-year MOP, Alkaff Vista in Bidadari clocked 6 sales transactions that crossed the one-million dollar mark, with one even going as high as $1.3M!
Source: HDB
In the last two months, 4 4-room 94sqm flats were sold from $937K right up to $1.17M. The lowest priced flat sold ($937K) was situated on the lowest floors in the block—somewhere between the first and third storey—whereas the higher priced ones were on the highest floors (e.g. the $1.17M flat is on the highest 16-18 storey). This is not surprising, because generally flats, or even condo units for that matter, at higher floors will command more value.
According to reports, when Alkaff Vista was first launched, prices for 4-room units started from $433,000. This essentially means that flats in Bidadari have minimally doubled their value in just 5 years, which is an insane feat.
Source: HDB
For the larger 5-room 113sqm flats, there were three listed sales transactions between September, ranging from $1.2M-$1.3M.
You can easily expect this list to grow in the months to come, with Alkaff Vista just crossing its MOP. There would be many interested parties looking to cash out on a hefty profit, as well as homebuyers looking to secure a home in a central location, especially those who may have missed out on securing a BTO in Bidadari previously.
According to a news report, there have been many real estate agents who have been going door to door at Bidadari HDB blocks to inquire if homeowners were interested in selling their flats.
While this more or less is the norm whenever a hot BTO project or EC hits its MOP, estates like Bidadari will naturally attract more attention and activity from real estate agents, riding on the hype and popularity of the estate to secure more clients. Plus, with the publicity from these first few transactions, you can expect such prices to set a benchmark for future sales of Bidadari flats, with a strong support level given the high demand for homes in the area.
All in all, it takes about 3 months to finalise a sales transaction, and so you can be sure that there have been other transitions that have taken place. These will be updated on the HDB’s Resale Flat portal, so stay tuned for more news!
Popularity of Bidadari estate
The fact that Bidadari was once a cemetery ground seems to be largely a non-issue with most homebuyers. And going back to 2015, the excitement and demand for Bidadari flats was very palpable.
Throughout the many sales exercises involving Bidadari, BTO flats were regularly oversubscribed. At the height of its popularity, the rates went from an average of 4.0-7.0 to almost as high as 20.0 for a 5-room flat. This means that for every 5-room flat available, there were 20 applicants trying to get it. No wonder securing a Bidadari BTO back then was akin to striking the lottery.
Source: HDB
The entire Bidadari estate comprises four districts—Alkaff, Bartley Heights, Park Edge, and Woodleigh. Altogether, there are a total of over 10,000 homes spanning across 12 BTO projects; of which, Alkaff and Woodleigh districts have already been completed, and the remaining Park Edge and Bartley Heights districts will be completed by mid next year.
Things you need to know about living in Bidadari
As you can tell, there are many things to love about Bidadari.
For starters, it’s conveniently located on the city fringe, great for those commuting to the CBD for work. Residents have three MRT stations in close proximity (Woodleigh, Potong Pasir, and Bartley), granting access to both the North-East Line and Circle Line. From Woodleigh MRT, it only takes about 15-20 minutes to stations like Dhoby Ghaut, and half an hour to places like Paya Lebar or Promenade.
For drivers, the CTE, PIE, and KPE provide easy access to various parts of Singapore. Additionally, Woodleigh MRT will be connected to Singapore’s first air-conditioned underground bus interchange, located beneath HDB flats, set to be completed by the end of 2024.
Bidadari is also a very popular pick for those with young children or are looking to sink roots and start a family, due to the many choice schools in the area. Nearby schools like Cedar Girls Secondary, St Andrew’s Primary and Secondary, and Maris Stella Primary and Secondary are sure to attract parents looking to enrol their children.
Amenities-wise, residents will have a couple of options both nearby or a short commute away. The newly-opened Woodleigh Mall has all the essentials that you would need such as a supermarket, F&B outlets, educational outlets and more, including Surrey Hill Grocer which will appeal to pet owners! Otherwise, a megamall like nex is just a short bus ride or one MRT station away, which has plenty of offerings to cater to any lifestyle.
Within the estate, HDB has gone to great lengths to develop the town, incorporating the rich heritage and flora and fauna of Bidadari. The government has taken care to conserve existing greenery where feasible. In addition, the park will be home to over 2,000 new trees, including critically endangered species, as well as a variety of fauna such as birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and both aquatic and semi-aquatic wildlife.
Features such as the playground, experiential trails and viewing sheds are designed around some of the conserved trees to minimise the impact to nature.
Bidadari Park is inspired by Winnie the Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood. It features a 5.2km walking trail and covers an area equivalent to 18 football fields. The park is filled with lush greenery and offers recreational spaces for residents and visitors, including a 1.8ha lake that serves both recreational and flood-management purposes.
A key highlight of the park is the Bidadari Heritage Walk, which will preserve and recount the history and stories of Bidadari’s rich past through a series of storyboards.
Source: CPG Consultants
Alkaff Vista—Is it worth the money?
Source: Google
Of course, with all the wonderful things that we’ve highlighted about Bidadari, it would be remiss not to give a quick summary of the BTO project that we’re talking about—Alkaff Vista.
Launched in the Nov 2015 BTO sales launch, Alkaff Vista has a total of 350 units spread out across four blocks. Given that there are only the larger 4-room and 5-room unit types available, it’s no wonder Alkaff Vista was a very popular pick with homebuyers back then.
When it was first launched, 4-room units were listed from $433,000-$550,000, while 5-room units were going for $544,000-$625,000. This is naturally on the higher side as compared to its similar-sized counterparts from other estates further out from central Singapore, but it is the premium that homebuyers had to pay for the fantastic location.
Source: PropertyGuru
Source: 99.co
A check on property listing websites shows that quite a few units at Alkaff Vista are already being listed. As expected, the lowest priced listing is already more than a million, which shows that at least psychologically, the expectation of the going price of flats there is already entrenched. The highest priced listing is $1.42M, which will rival that of resale flats in other highly-desired estates like Queenstown. The going price revolves around $1,1xx psf, which is crazy for a resale HDB flat as it is comparable to some older condos in Singapore.
Where do we go from here?
For Alkaff Vista, it is still relatively early days, and you can expect more and more transactions to take place in the months to come as homebuyers cash out on good-sized profits. You can also expect demand to be high, partially from prospective homebuyers who want to secure a home in Bidadari but missed out in doing so the first time around.
In addition, with the introduction of sales restrictions on HDB flats in central locations—stemming from the new Standard, Plus, and Prime classifications—flats such as those in Bidadari will only increase in appeal because of their attractive location but sans restrictions.
On a related note, other projects within Bidadari will soon fulfil their MOP, such as Alkaff Lakeview, and Alkaff CourtView. This means an influx of resale flats which will bump up the supply, which should temper down the demand a little. However, you can expect prices to remain very competitive for Bidadari. Now that the benchmark has been set at $1M for 4-room flats in Bidadari, it seems like it’ll only be upwards from here for future resale flat transactions in the estate.
Read our other articles here:
- Tengah HDB Town: A real-time look
- Saint George’s Towers & Tampines Greenview
- How to spot an overpriced HDB
Cover image adapted from: Google Maps, PropertyGuru
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