Holland Village set for more buzz

Something’s going down around the Holland Village area, and for once it’s not a row with a hawker over their impossible prawn mee prices. Long known as a pricey expat enclave, we’ve also begun to see surprising HDB transactions in the area. In May this year, a five room flat at Holland Drive sold for $968,000, or about $769 per square foot. Earlier in April, another unit in the area fetched a price of $945,000. This is exceptional, given that Singapore’s property market is currently in a downturn. Why could this be happening?

Holland Village has been drawing investor interest since 2013

In 2013, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) master plan showed that Holland Village would be extended. There were tentative plans to roll out 1,500 homes and a new community park over two years, which got a lot of investor interest.

For more amenities in new launch in Holland Village Extension, please click below

Holland Village is set for more buzz as a mixed-use development site along Holland Road was released in early 2015

Holland Village is on the boundary line between Queenstown – a desirable mature estate – and Bukit Timah, a high rent area. There’s a strong demand for properties in the area, often by buyers who have significant purchasing power. We can bet investors’ eyes lit up when they heard the plans, although cooling measures probably muted their enthusiasm before things got off the ground.

Suffice it to say that Holland Village was primed to be a hotspot two or three years back, it just seems to have fallen off the radar for a while.

Proximity to One North and an expat enclave

What interests landlords is the proximity of Holland Village to One North. The One North area is home to plenty of offices, in the form of Fusionopolis, Biopolis, and the JTC LaunchPad. This will undoubtedly provide rental opportunities, for those who work in the area.

Of course, Holland Village has also been an expat enclave for a while. This again adds to the possibility of good rental income.

New malls opening, and Star Vista

The launch of new malls (and redevelopment of older ones) will reinvigorate the Holland Village area.

For the past decade Holland Village has been stagnating: Back in the 1980s it was famed as an artsy area, a sort of Singaporean counterpart to New York’s East Village. Several trends were also started in Holland Village, such as Milano pizza (one of the first chain pizza joints besides Pizza Hut) and the Lorong Mambong wine bars. As of now however, the mood has turned – Holland Village is not so much an artsy enclave, as it is a snooty place with overpriced retail (so, exactly like New York’s East Village).

Sadly, Holland Road Shopping Mall has already become a thing of the past

The plans for the area seem focused on bringing some of the action back. A new development by Raffles Medical Group will feature 49,000 square feet of new retail and F&B (this will be accompanied by 9,000 square feet of medical facilities, further enhancing livability, and probably made necessary by the number of pubs in the area).

Holland Road Shopping Mall, which has long serviced the area, is also being torn down and redeveloped. In the meantime, the fairly new Star Vista mall, which is close to the Buona Vista MRT station, provides a major hub for Holland Village residents.

The Holland Village extension is finally underway One Holland Village

A 2.3 hectare site has been marked off for the Holland Village extension. The site is split into two zones. Zone 1 will hold about 570 residential units, while zone 2 has 13,500 square feet for retail and serviced apartments.

This is close to a where there’s currently a stretch of shophouses, and we can finally expect Holland Village’s nightlife to extend past Wala Wala on a Saturday. Investors probably see a combination of both potential and currently low prices, whereas buyers may see a chance to live in a great lifestyle spot.

An unusual number of major educational institutions nearby

The National University of Singapore (NUS) is fairly close to Holland Village, and there seems to be a perpetual battle for accommodations. And regardless of how packed or vacant the campus is, there will always be wealthier foreign students who can afford to rent in Holland Village itself, closer to all the entertainment and nightlife. Some landlords may already be thinking of this market, when the extension is finally ready.

INSEAD and United World College are also in the area. Expats who send their offspring to these international schools will want accommodations nearby, something investors have long known about.

On a more local note, Singapore Polytechnic is nearby. Combined with NUS, this makes Holland Village a convenient living area for families with children there.

Good rental yields despite the softening rental market

Holland Village has resisted the softening rental market better than many other areas. Average rental rates in the area are around $6.15 to $6.50 per square foot, with a yield of around five per cent over the past decade. Rental yields in the district 10 area, where Holland Village is located, are usually around three to four per cent.

This situation has not changed much despite the softening rental market – this can be chalked up to Holland Village retaining its high demand from expatriates, and its reputation as an almost self-contained lifestyle hub.

Source: 99.com

PROPERTY LAUNCHES & INVESTMENTS

Property Launches & Investments

Holland Village set for more buzz

Holland Village has been drawing investor interest since 2013

Proximity to One North and an expat enclave

New malls opening, and Star Vista

The Holland Village extension is finally underway One Holland Village

An unusual number of major educational institutions nearby

Good rental yields despite the softening rental market

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