BTO Guide for Kallang/Whampoa Aug'21

Holy hell it’s already August?!

2021 really is just flying by isn’t it.

But alas, we’ve reached the 8th month of the year. And for us, August SCREAMS Singapore.

National Day, Flags hanging out on windows, The nation collectively working to attain the vaccination target.

But really, nothing screams SINGAPORE in August quite like another BTO launch.

Prepare your Singpass-es, whip out your $10 and put on your reading glasses for some intensive reading, cause it’s BTO time again baby.

If you wanna read up on the guides for the other sites in this launch,

Hougang
Jurong East
Queenstown
Tampines

As usual, if you need a reference for the Kallang/Whampoa site map, I got you.

Content Page

Kallang/Whampoa August’21
Units Available
Prices
Street
Transport
Amenities
Places of Worship
Education
How much can you earn if you sell this BTO?

Kallang/Whampoa Aug'21

In the Feb’21 BTO Guide for Kallang/Whampoa, I wrote that the HDB was probably doing a BTO in the area to ‘inject some young blood’ because Kallang has an ~~old~~ older vibe to it, and people thought I was being mean.

Hello?? Stats don't lie fam. Even SingStats has shown that Kallang is old.

But just because it's old, doesn't mean it can't be gold.

If anything, this injection of yung' blood will elevate the town of Kallang, offering a new layer of dimension that only a few other estates can rival. With the blend of at least 3, possibly even 4, generations, Kallang will be at the forefront of HDB's plans.

Ky-stradamus’s BTO Name Prediction
What I think it’ll be called: Towner Heights/Towner Rise or something lame like that
What I want it to be called: (The City of) Townsville
What it’s actually called: Towner Residences

That being said, let’s get into the nitty gritty.

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Units Available

This upcoming sale has 316 available units, half of what the Feb’21 Kallang sale had.

For this lot, 3-rm and 4-rm units are available.

Find out more: The different types of houses in Singapore

Prices

Street

This block of units is situated to be along Towner Road.

Roads don’t seem to be as bustling as McNair Heights, but you will be in between 2 schools.

That will probably mean that school bells and national pledge recitals will soon become a norm for you.

Transport

There are a few things in life that fall under the category of ‘Lacking’.
Empathy in the world, my self-esteem and public transport options for this sale.

Look, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It looks pretty dire at the moment.

Train wise, you’re about a 10 min walk away from Boon Keng MRT Station. Alternatively, you're about a 13 min walk away from Bendemeer MRT, which gives you the option of the Downtown line.

You essentially have 2 bus services that will serve you, 21 & 139, both at a bus stop about a 5 mins walk away. I personally doubt there will be more services added to serve this bus stop, because the route is a very cramped area. The very most I see if maybe 1-2 additional services that could be passed off as serving the upcoming Kallang polyclinic.

For those with vehicles, you'll have access to the CTE and PIE, and you're a 10min drive away from town.

Amenities

The upside of staying in a geriatric estate like Kallang is that it has matured and developed over the years, and you’ll be moving into a neighbourhood that has tons of accessible amenities.

If you wanna get together and gooooooooooooooooo …

.... there are a few options available.

The closest option is Bendemeer Mall, which is about a 10 min walk away.

It’s not exactly a shopping mall, but think of it like an upsized version of a neighbourhood centre.

Neighbourhood centres are those alleys of heartland shops (bakeries/optical shops/minimarts/coffeeshops) spanning across a few blocks that are usually in a maze-like structure.

If you’re looking for a more proper mall, Mustafa Centre is an 11 min drive away.

For the uninitiated, Mustafa Centre is a massive department store that sells just about anything and everything, ranging from your daily groceries to household equipment to drones.

They also offer postal services, money exchanging services and even sell gold bars.

Pretty sure they would have started doing crypto services too if it wasn’t for the dip (where my fellow HODL-ders at?!)

Oh did I mention that they’re open 24/7 too?

If you’re looking for a proper, proper mall, City Square Mall is an 8 min drive away.

What do I mean by proper, proper mall?

Well, Mustafa is a massive store with six floors.

City Square mall is a massive mall with TWELVE floors. It’s an HDB block by itself (but this one cannot BTO ah sorry)

Onto healthcare, regardless of whether you’ve taken fries-her, moderna family, sino🅱️ac or none (not judging, it’s a safe space), COVID and general illnesses are still rampant (especially in this hot-ass weather).

There are a couple of medical facilities around this BTO as well.

The first one is Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital (and Nursing Home).

While they do offer inpatient/outpatient services for basic hospitalization, it does seem that they’re orientated towards a more Eastern approach when it comes to medicine, offering services such as acupuncture and cupping (at heavily discounted rates too), but not practices like surgery.

For that, you’d probably would have to take a trip to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which is a very arduous, very tiring … 10 min drive away.

The second option is the upcoming Kallang polyclinic. According to the URA Master Plan, this is the only real addition to the already-developed town of Kallang.

_{(The plot for this BTO is in the red circle)}

Currently, there’s no proposed date announced for the opening of the polyclinic. However, the entire structure of the building has already been erected, which means it’s safe to say that it’ll be in operation by the time residents move in.

(Also it’s so close la, when you want to geng work can book appt and walk 5 mins)

Of course there are other miscellaneous amenities such as an ActiveSG Field, Kallang CC, a rock climbing gym and the Singapore Khalsa Association.

But gurl, let’s not also ignore the tons of cafe options you have around the area. There’s so many that if you go to a different place every week for a year, you still won’t revisit a place.

Last I heard, even Seth Lui & TheSmartLocal were setting up HQ there

Places of Worship

If you need somewhere to pray in hopes that your BTO becomes a $1mil HDB unit, this Kallang/Whampoa BTO launch has about 3 Chinese temples, 3 - 4 churches, 2 Hindu temples, 1 Sikh Temple, 1 mosque ~~and blackpink~~ in the area.

Education

Kallang has fewer schools in it’s vicinity as compared to other estates, mostly due to the town already being developed many years ago.

Apart from the few that I’ve listed in the infographic above, I’ll just mention an upcoming school that will be near this BTO.

The school is about a 10 min drive away from the BTO (red circle), similar to most of the other schools in the area.

Currently, there are no known plans on what type of school this will be, so we just gotta keep a lookout on it.

How much can you earn if you sell this BTO?

Firstly, I know there are some people who just scrolled down to this portion so, Hey! Welcome.

Secondly, obligatory disclaimer, everything written below is completely my own opinion.

I'm not forcing you to sell your house.
I'm just sharing some info with you because I think it's your right to know about this before choosing a BTO location ...... (also cause just in case a Karen wants to find me in 5 years time.)

When it comes to looking at when's the best time to sell your house for maximum profit, the core concept here is the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP).

Simply put, when you buy a house, you need to stay in it for at least 5 years before you can sell it.
This one Gahmen say one, not me.

For example, if you sell your Bishan/Novena house after clearing that 5 year mark, you'll tend to get a really good price back because Bishan/Novena properties are in a good location (central, developed, matured)

This is ..... the same for Kallang.

Here's what I think the BTO lifespan for the Kallang/Whampoa BTO will look like.

The first rise in #1 is common in all BTOs.
Since it’s subsidized public housing, it starts below market price, and slowly gravitates towards the market value after 5 years, the period in which you can sell it.

But of course, the more important portion is the area in X. I think this will remain as the peak for quite some time, hence why the graph is stagnant.

This is because there is currently no developmental plans for Kallang/Whampoa to ugprade the area. In part of having readily-available amenities when you move in (and the maturity of the estate), comes the deprioritization in the future.

No need to fix what's broken, amirite?

However, it's not all bad.
Sure, the graph doesn't increase, but it doesn't take a dip either.
Use the stagnancy to your advantage.

Because of how consistent prices seem to hold up, it offers you more flexibility as to when you want to cash out.

You're more or less able to sell this unit anywhere from 5 years - 35 years and will probably get the same offer.

That means,
If you're looking at it from an investment pov, sell it in ~5 years, you get profit.
If you're looking at it from a stepping stone pov where you want to upgrade to a condo/landed, sell it in ~10-15 years, you get profit.
If you're looking at it from a settling down pov, the value of your property should probably still hover around the same price when you're into your 50s/60s/70s.

That's what a property in a prime location will offer. It's that flexibility for you to decide how you want to see your BTO as.

Tl;dr - Peak price should immediately be reached once the MOP is cleared. Although it probably won't go higher (if there are no upgrades), length of this peak price should remain for quite some time. Whenever you want to sell your house, you should be able to get a profit. Provides flexibility and security if you don't really know what your plans are yet.