When you ask any Singaporean on what they would associate Geylang with, the answer should more or less come to mind within seconds. Well, it’s great food of course! What else were you thinking?
Be that as it may, we all know that Geylang is usually associated with certain…proclivities of the red-light nature, and no doubt the estate has a storied past. However, there’s actually a whole lot more to Geylang than what meets the eye, and this in turn translates to a growing popularity for residential properties in the area.
Just this past month, an executive maisonette (EM) located at Geylang East Ave 1 was sold for over a million dollars, being the only one of its kind in the past 12 months. Even though it certainly isn’t the first ever million-dollar HDB in the Geylang estate itself, it might just be the first in the Geylang East area.
Geylang East Ave 1 Executive Maisonette sold for $1.02M
Image adapted from: HDB
According to the details listed on the HDB’s resale portal, the unit in question is a 146sqm (1,571sqft) maisonette, located at Blk 132 Geylang East Ave 1. It’s also a mid-floor unit, sitting somewhere on the 10th-12th floor, which makes it a mid-floor unit seeing as the block has a total of 19 stories.
In terms of its remaining lease, it has just over 63 years left, and at $1.02M, this pegs the average selling price of this Blk 132 maisonette at around $649 psf.
Interestingly, this is only one of two executive maisonettes within Blk 132 that were sold in the last 12 months. In fact, it seems that there have been only 12 flats sold at Blk 132 in the last 12 months, regardless of unit type. The other is a similar-sized maisonette that was sold for $965K, all the way back in February.
Image adapted from: Google Maps
At $649 psf, the unit is essentially the most expensive flat sold at Blk 132. According to sources online, the selling psf in the past year averaged around $613psf, and so it’s remarkable that the latest transaction well surpassed the prevailing average for the year.
Here’s an indication of how similar Blk 132 sales have fared over the past 4 years:
Information sourced from 99.co
As you can see, prices have been steadily climbing up over the years, to the peak of $649psf that we just saw in the past month. Apart from the general increase in property prices across the board, there are also several other possible factors specific to this unit and the estate, which led to its high selling price.
Evergreen popularity of Executive Maisonettes
As you would have already figured out by now, executive maisonettes are held in very high regard amongst homebuyers. For one, the floor area that they offer is unrivalled by any other HDB unit type, and so many would be more than willing to pay top dollar to snag a very large HDB flat to house the entire family.
Maisonettes also come with two floors, and so EM owners would be able to enjoy landed property vibes alongside the affordability of public housing.
Image adapted from: Google Maps
The production of EMs has also been long phased out by HDB since the late 1990s to early 2000s. As such, there is a limited supply of such flats in the market, creating a scarcity which drives up the value and selling prices of such flats.
Attractive location in Geylang
Now to move on to the elephant in the room: its location. Even though much has changed in the estate over the years, a fair amount of Singaporeans still hold preconceived notions about Geylang being a shady and crime-ridden neighbourhood.
To be fair, you can’t disassociate Geylang from its history, and there is some merit to those beliefs, however, there is a growing number of Singaporeans who value Geylang for its fairly central location and myriad of food options.
In the case of our Block 132 EM, it’s located at Geylang East Ave 1 which is actually further away from the more “famous” alleyways of Geylang. If you’re familiar with the area, you’ll know that the two major roads that are in the vicinity of Blk 132 – Sims Ave and Aljunied Road – are very busy at most times of the day, with a lot of hustle and bustle in between.
Image adapted from: Google Maps
Accessibility-wise, there are many bus services that ply the route, making it a very easy experience to commute to other parts of Singapore. The block sits between 2 major MRT stations Paya Lebar and Aljunied, both of which are not too far away and only a short walk/bus ride away.
If you drive, you’ll be pleased to know that the roads can easily get you to places like Kallang, Katong or even Serangoon, as well as the PIE expressway to get you to further out places in Singapore.
Image adapted from: Google Maps
For amenities, there are quite a few options available, such as the many small mom-and-pop shops scattered around the estate. Else, the main shopping mall in the district is the giant Paya Lebar Quarter, with smaller malls like the SingPost Centre and Paya Lebar Square just next to each other.
There, you’ll have everything that you possibly need, from things like groceries to household items, and stuff like fashion for some retail therapy. For families, the closest schools would be Geylang Methodist Primary School, Kong Hwa School, and Canossa Catholic Primary School.
Now comes to what is possibly one of Geylang’s greatest selling points – the food. If you’re a foodie, you will definitely love Geylang, because it has a huge range of food options, some of which open late into the night and early morning.
Swee Guan Hokkien Mee on Lor 29.
Image credit: Eatbook
For instance, the adjacent Geylang Road has rows and rows of shophouses, home to popular eating spots that serve the likes of frog leg porridge, zi char, Vietnamese and Western cuisine. Definitely a plus in the eyes of many.
Future of maisonettes in Singapore
As we close out 2022 by taking a look back at the property market, suffice to say the market has been flourishing with seemingly new all-time high prices with every passing month.
In the case of maisonettes, even though they lean towards the ‘older’ side with shorter remaining leases as compared to other unit types in other estates, the data clearly shows that prospective homebuyers are more than willing to pay a premium for these units.
Will the prices continue to breach the million-dollar threshold with a decreasing amount of years on the lease? Only time will tell.
Read more about maisonette sales in 2022:
- A Round-Up Of The Most Expensive HDBs Sold In 2022 From A Geylang Maisonette To A Bishan Loft
- Yet Another Potong Pasir HDB Executive Maisonette Sells For $1.05M With 60 Years Left On Lease
- Tampines Joins The HDB Million-Dollar Club As Executive Maisonette On St 82 Sells For $1.013M
Cover image adapted from: Google Maps
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