Located in the South-eastern part of the Island, Kallang and Whampoa HDB Town, is home to around 98,050 HDB residents and 40,169 HDB flats, giving it an average household size of 2.44; making it well below the national average household size of 3.11.
These numbers can be mainly attributed to the large number of elderly population residing since its early days as a township, as well as a slate of new HDB BTO projects likely attracting young couples.
The History Of Kallang
The Kallang River is the longest river in Singapore and it runs from the Lower Peirce Reservoir to the Kallang Basin. It is believed the name originated from the aboriginal tribe, Biduanda Orang Kallang that inhabited the area in the 1500s, living on boats in the swamps at the mouth of the river. There are also arguments made in favour of it being the site where Sir Stamford Raffles made his first landing in 1819. Throughout the years till the 1960s, the Kallang River was littered with cargo boats and sampans carrying goods and people for work and leisure.
The Kallang housing estate was initially constructed by the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) in 1959, making it one of the oldest housing estates in Singapore. It is also home to many “historic sites” as officially designated by the National Heritage Board (NHB) such as the Central Sikh Temple along Towner Road, the former Kallang Gasworks along Kallang Road, the old Kallang Airport along Stadium link and the Merdeka Bridge along Nicoll Highway to name a few.
Over the last two decades of rejuvenation and improvements to the town, it has become a highly sought-after town for residents to live, work and play. Despite these modernisation projects, the old charms of hawker fare food and small businesses still nestled within the estate make it a vibrant place for all ages.
Business Activities Around Kallang
If Tanjong Pagar is viewed as a natural home to big Multi-National Corporations (MNCs), then Kallang would probably be considered as the home to Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs). With the four Business 1 (Industrial) clusters consisting of Kallang Basin Industrial Park, Kallang Bahru Industrial Estate, Geylang Bahru Industrial Estate and Kallang Basin Industrial Estate, there are ample job opportunities for residents to work near their homes.
Furthermore, given its location within the city fringes and close proximity to popular tourist attractions such as the Marina Bay district, Little India and Chinatown, there are also many job opportunities in the Retail and Hotel industry. In 2015, the Hotel Boss was added to this growing list of hotels situated in Kallang. A unique feature of this development is that it integrates the public plaza with the waterfront promenade along Rochor Canal.
Another major employer in the town is the Singapore Sports Hub. Apart from the job opportunities from the large retail space, it also employs various sports professionals through the Singapore Sport Institute. This adds a different dimension to the job opportunities available in Singapore as Kallang transforms itself to become a Sports Hub of the nation.
In Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s maiden National Day Rally 2024 speech, he mentioned a Kallang Alive Masterplan – underpinned by the sports facilities in Kallang. A larger 18,000-capacity indoor stadium is set to be built to attract more top-tier events. New sports science and sports medicine facilities will also be built to support Team Singapore athletes. The Singapore Sports School will also be relocated from Woodlands to the Sports Hub.
Read Also: Why Tanjong Pagar Will Be Even More Desirable In The Future
Kallang Enjoys Great Accessibility To Most Towns In Singapore
Travelling within Kallang and to the other parts of the island via public transport is extremely convenient due to the excellent connectivity to MRT lines such as the North-East Line (NEL), East-West Line (EWL), Circle Line (CCL) and the latest addition, the Downtown Line (DTL). There are currently 9 train stations from these 4 lines, scattered throughout the town making it accessible for all groups to be within 10 minutes reach to a train station.
Additionally, the opening of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) has further improved connectivity to the Eastern and Northern parts of the Island.
There is also good news for residents who are motorists. The Kallang – Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) connects to the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) and East Coast Parkway (ECP) making the journey to the East, under 20km or a 30mins drive on clear road conditions. Likewise, the journey to the West, can be undertaken by connecting from the KPE to either the PIE or Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), making the journey to Jurong East also under 20km or a 30mins drive on clear road conditions. Finally, motorist journeying to the central parts and the northern parts of the island can transit to the Central Expressway (CTE).
With train stations across 5 lines and close proximity to Expressways, accessibility is the biggest advantage for this town.
Housing Options Within Kallang
There are over 40,169 HDB units in the Kallang/Whampoa New Town, with the ultimate target projected at around 67,000. This means the town may only be 2/3 of the way built, and we can expect many more housing options in Kallang over the coming years.
Over the past 10 years, there have been a total of 17 HDB BTO projects in the Kallang/Whampoa estate yielding approximately 7,593 HDB units. The supply of new flats has been rather tepid given the strong demand for housing near the city centre by both first-timers and upgraders. Something else to note, is none of the new launches included a 5 – room option. This makes the supply of 5–room flats or bigger sized units a rare commodity in this mature town.
New BTO launches in Kallang Whampoa have mostly been elevated to the status of Prime Flats – which means they come with more restrictions, including longer MOP, BTO income ceiling placed on resale flats, higher subsidy recovery upon sale and others – put in place to keep prices affordable in prime locations.
Read Also: Standard, Plus & Prime Flats: Guide To Understanding The New Framework For HDB Flats
Let’s look at how the affordability stacks up based on the HDB resale prices.
Table 1: HDB Resale Housing Price (Kallang/Whampoa)
HDB Resale Housing Price (2nd Quarter of 2024)
Location
3–room
4–room
5–room
Executive
Kallang/Whampoa
Median Price
$410,000
$860,500
$884,000
*No data
Median Price Range For All Towns In Singapore
(Lowest to Highest)
$359,400 – $488,900
$488,000 – $928,000
$608,000 – $960,000
$695,000 – $900,000
Source: HDB
The median HDB prices in Kallang/Whampoa based on the 2nd Quarter 2024 numbers may indicate they are within the mid-price range for all categories.
However, if we were to delve deeper, we may see this is not telling of the full picture. A large number of 3–room HDB flats in the town were built in the 70s to early 80s and these typically have an asking price of around $300,000 – $600,000. Whereas, a similar 3–room flat built in the last 10 years, in neighbourhoods such as Bendemeer Road, Jalan Tenteram, McNair Road, St George’s Lane and Upper Boon Keng, can easily have a selling price of around $600,000 to even more than $800,000. Likewise, for the 4–room and 5–room flats that were built in the last 10 years, it can easily command a price range of around $800,000 to more than $1 million, placing it amongst the priciest towns in Singapore.
In the latest HDB Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise in June 2024, 2,063 HDB flats were launched in the Tanjong Rhu Riverfront estate. Some of these flats, depending on the floors and facing, will have expansive sea views and overlook the Singapore Sports Hub. With a waiting period of up to 4 to 5 years, we crunch the numbers to see if it’s worth the wait for the successful applicants.
Project
BTO Launch
3 – Room ($Price)
4 – Room ($Price)
Tanjong Rhu Riverfront I & II (PLH project)
June 2024
$402,000 – $544,000
$568,000 – $779,000
Tenteram Vantage
October 2023
$339,000 – $420,000
$488,000 – $628,000
Rajah Residences
October 2023
–
$480,000 – $675,000
Verandah @ Kallang (PLH Project)
October 2023
$368,000 – $475,000
$535,000 – $675,000
Farrer Park Arena (PLH Project)
May 2023
$362,000 – $466,000
$505,000 – $642,000
Farrer Park Fields (PLH Project)
Feb 2023
$356,000 – $449,000
$484,000 – $631,000
Rajah Summit
Feb 2023
$326,000 – $443,000
$459,000 – $631,000
Our base comparison project is Verandah @ Kallang, which was released in the last BTO exercise in October 2023 and was also a PLH Project. It received an underwhelming subscription rate of 1.3 for overall. Part of this can be explained due to the introduction of new penalties for non-selection of flats.
The 3–room flats in the project were priced from $368,000 to $475,000, while the 4-room flats were priced from $535,000 to $675,000. This was slightly higher than the Farrer Park Arena PLH BTO project in the BTO launch immediately preceding it. However, the Tanjong Rhu Riverfront I & II BTO projects are much more costly than the Verandah @ Kallang project. This can likely be attributed to a potentially more attractive location.
While there are no comparable HDB flats that are near the newest Tanjong Rhu Riverfront I & II, we can look at the previous launches.
Based on the current resale flats available, the new BTO launch prices do seem rather affordable. For example, a high-floor 4-room HDB flat in Upper Boon Keng Road, which is a 5-minute walk away from the Verandah @ Kallang BTO flat and was built in 2006 (giving it a remaining lease of 81 years) was sold for $815,000 in August 2024. The 4-room flats offered at Verandah @ Kallang BTO were sold for $535,000 to $675,000. Of course, this resale flat does not have the new PLH flat restriction imposed on it.
Similarly, the Rajah Residences location, which was not a PLH flat location, offered in the October 2023 BTO launch seemed to be sold at an affordable price. For example, a low-floor 4-room HDB flat in Jalan Rajah, a 5-minute walk away from this location, but built in 1984 (with a remaining lease of just 58 years), was sold for $665,000 in June 2024. 4-room flats at the Rajah Residence BTO launch were selling for $480,000 – $675,000.
Based on the rough numbers crunched, we do see buyers of BTO HDBs tend to get a discount of around $150,000 – $300,000 off current market value. However, the downside is they have to wait at least 10 years to unlock this gain and in the case of PLH flats, up to 15 years; 5 years to build and 5 to 10 years years to reach MOP.
All in all, Kallang comprises a good variety of public and private housing options, with accompanying amenities and services. From an investment perspective, the numbers do look healthy for buyers as the prices tend to appreciate well given the popularity and convenience of staying near the city fringes.
Education Options Within Kallang
Unlike the Woodlands Town that we covered in our previous neighbourhood round up article, there is a notable difference in the number of Preschool options in the Kallang/Whampoa Town, with only 15 available centres for young parents to choose from. This small number of centres may give rise to some concerns for parents with young children as finding a place for their children at a preschool may be challenging. The only solace comes from the location of these centres which are quite evenly distributed throughout the neighbourhood.
Source: Preschool
Moving past the preschools, the shortage of schools at the Primary and Secondary level is further exemplified with only 3 options each. Amongst which, Dunman High School has to be specially highlighted as being one of the largest government school in Singapore in terms of physical area. Furthermore, it has the credit of being the top 5 ranking schools in Singapore based on the 2019 PSLE results. It also has the accolade of nurturing 3 President’s Scholars through its Integrated Dunman High Programme, which leads to the Singapore – Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examination.
Here is a list of the MOE based institutions at Kallang.
MOE Primary School
No
Name of School
Location
1
Hong Wen School
30 Towner Road, Singapore 327829
2
Farrer Park Primary School
2 Farrer Park Road, Singapore 217567
3
Bendemeer Primary School
91 Bendemeer Road, Singapore 339948
MOE Secondary School
No
Name of School
Location
1
Northlight School
151 Towner Road, Singapore 327830
2
Dunman High School
10 Tanjong Rhu Road, Singapore 436895
3
Bendemeer Secondary School
1 St Wilfred Road, Singapore 327919
Tertiary
1
Dunman High School (Junior College)
10 Tanjong Rhu Road, Singapore 436895
What it lacks in quantity, it makes up with its quality. Though there are only a few numbers of schools at both Primary and Secondary Level, there is a top-ranking school at both levels for the concerned “Tiger parents”. That being said, the limited number of schools in the town, comes as no surprise given the ageing population and low household size ratio in the town.
Read Also: Neighbourhood Estate Guide: Why Woodlands Can Be The Star Destination Of The North
Recreation Facilities In Kallang
Eating probably has to be the biggest recreational activity amongst Singaporeans. And, in this aspect, there is no shortage of food establishments to serve the different palates. There are plenty of options ranging from hawker fare food at Old Airport Road or the Whampoa Market to gourmet dining at the Kallang Wave Mall, as there is something that caters to every wallet size and taste.
After eating, next, comes shopping. Despite its close proximity to shopping enclaves of Little India and Bugis, Kallang itself offer several shopping avenues. The Kallang Wave Mall is a unique sports theme mall with an indoor rock-climbing feature. Adding to this shopping experience, is the Leisure Park Kallang, another mall that houses an ice-skating ring, a cineplex and a bowling centre under one roof.
Kallang is synonymous with Sports activities, from the roaring soccer heydays to the dragon boat races. Officially opened in July 2015, the Singapore Sports Hub was built to support Singapore’s 2030 sports masterplan to forge and bond communities through sports by ensuring sports are inclusive, accessible and affordable to all. Under the Sports Hub umbrella, you have the 55,000-seat National Stadium, the 12,000-seat Singapore Indoor Stadium (and a new 18,000-seat infoor stadium in the works), an Aquatic Centre and a Water Sports Centre amongst other venues. In addition to these paid venues, are there also 8 other free to play activities that cater to all ages, sports interests and fitness levels. If getting sweaty isn’t your thing, you can either watch the many International Sporting games the Sports Centre hosts throughout the year, or swing to the concert beats by renowned bands.
In PM Wong’s National Day Rally 2024, he also promised to covert the main road running through the Sports Hub into a pedestrianised community boulevard offering sporting facilities and programmes for everyone to enjoy.
Lastly, residents in Kallang can expect to be within 400m of a park or park connector. This includes the rejuvenation of the Rochor Canal from Jalan Besar to Crawford Street which includes new features such as lookout decks and seating, bringing people closer to the water. Moreover, residents can enjoy the neighbourhood parks such as the Kallang Riverside Park to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
Overall, there are plenty of recreational options for one to enjoy without feeling limited by the commercial nodes surrounding the Kallang township.
Summary
Criteria
Ratings
Remarks
Pedigree
Very Good
Historical records suggest Kallang as a colony has its roots as early as the 1500s.
Over time, it became one of the focal points for trade and residential developments to take shape as Singapore developed.
Apart from the many historic buildings sited within, Kallang is known to be the heartbeat of Singapore Sports. As such, it will always endear to many Singaporeans.
Accessibility
Very Good
Connectivity from Kallang to other parts of the island has not been more fluid since the construction of the MRT lines.
There are currently four lines and 9 stations serving around this town, and the TEL further improves connectivity for those living in the estate.
Furthermore, it is also near to Expressways making a commute by road just as convenient and accessible as it is by train.
Affordability
Average
We have rated the affordability as average as there are many older HDB flats going for a relatively affordable sum.
Prices of newer HDB flats with longer leases are rather high compared to other towns. This is to be expected given the strong demand to live near the city fringes coupled with a low supply of flats.
Schools
Below Average
As a mature town, it has a low household size compared to other non-mature towns. As such, under the school category, it is rated as below average due to the less than a handful of educational institutions.
Recreation
Very Good
There are plenty of recreational activities to do in Kallang. From eating, shopping and taking part in sports, all is possible at Kallang.
There is also a park or park connector every 400m for the residents to unwind from the hustle and bustle of city life. The pedestrianised Community Boulevard near the Sports Hub will also add to the range of sporting amenities already there.
Investment Potential
Good
We did some calculations based on the recent HDB BTO launches and found that buyers may receive a good investment return on their homes. We are, however, concerned by the high prices transacted in Kallang especially for a public housing project.
Million-dollar HDBs may only comprise a small percentage of flats, and may not be sustainable in the long run.
The Government is also seen to be willing to tweak the current system if prices continue to head higher – as can be seen with the recent tightening of LTV ratio imposed on HDB flats.
Read Also: Neighbourhood Estate Guide: Will Sengkang Be The Next Supertown In 2030?
Cover image credit: Raymond Quek
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