$2.05m for a freehold landed home? Touring Jalan Wangi, one of the cheaper landed estates in Singapore

I have a confession. 

This column started with my house hunt for a dual-key apartment that can house my Mother and I (you can read about it by clicking the link) before evolving into a series of landed enclave tours.

Along the way, with the rising property prices and interest rates, I've lost hope that we'll ever be able to move.

I'm sure many people looking for a new home might have similar thoughts, so when I saw that we could still find a freehold landed property for under $3 million in 2024, I raced over to do a walkabout.

The property in question is located at Jalan Wangi, in Sennett Estate (click through for the PropertyGuru link.) Do note that it is in original condition, so it will need some sprucing up.

In addition, there are also walk-up apartments for sale on this street, but I checked that this property is for an actual house and not an apartment. (At the time of writing, there were only 33 listings on PropertyGuru for landed properties (freehold/999-years/9999-years) under $ 3 million, and some of these 33 were apartments masquerading as landed houses!) 

It's close to MacPherson Garden Estate, which I visited last year, and is famous for being one of the cheapest landed enclaves in Singapore. (Primarily due to the tiny plot sizes — some under 1,000 sq ft! At the time of writing, there was a landed property for sale that is 885 sq ft. The Jalan Wangi one is 1,340 sq ft, if you were wondering.)

If you're not familiar with the area, here's a map to help you orientate yourself. Jalan Wangi is a U-shaped street off the busy MacPherson Road. Parents will be happy to hear that it's under 1 km from Cedar Girls' Secondary School.

Today, we're primarily going to look at the houses bounded by Upper Serangoon Road, MacPherson Road, Wan Tho Avenue, and Jalan Kemboja.

The area consists of primarily terrace and semi-D houses, with the odd detached unit. The smaller houses are all located along Jalan Wangi, Siang Kuang Avenue, and MacPherson Road, with the larger units further inside (i.e. further away from the noise of the heavy traffic.)

One thing to note is that the area is unfortunately not really within walking distance to an MRT, although there are obviously bus stops along the main roads.

In addition, I find driving through the area a real headache, due to the narrow winding roads, and high density of cars. (Some smaller houses do not have space to park cars on their property, so the streets are super full. I was even wondering if I would need to park at Poiz Centre and walk over! (Poiz Centre is one of the closest neighbourhood malls.)

Opposite the centre are shophouses, where you can find commercial units.

On the main road, next to the shophouses, are more shops and a bus stop. Unfortunately, 99per cent of the eateries I saw were closed. This could be because the MacPherson area is quite industrial, and I'm guessing most of the businesses are closed over the weekend. (I visited on a Saturday.)

Since we're already on the main road, let's walk along and explore a bit more.

Have you noticed something? We did not pass any parks or playgrounds during the walkabout. Indeed, there were none in the area we toured, but there is a decent one at Chempaka Avenue, just a few 100 metres to the right.

Pros

• Freehold
• Ability to enter at a low quantum
• Central location: short drive to Orchard (but the expressway is pretty jammed during peak hours)
• Next to Paya Lebar Quarter
• Lots of amenities within walking distance, catering to all budgets, from people looking for more affordable kopitiams as well as for people who prefer more comfortable places with AC (though some are closed on the weekend)
• Primary Schools nearby, such as Cedar Girls
• Lots of exits and entrances into the estate from the main road (both for cars and pedestrians)
• Comfortably sized pedestrian paths so you don’t have to walk on the narrow streets
• Some houses have the potential to be rebuilt with increased internal area
• There’s a shortcut to Alkaff Oasis HDB estate and Prime Supermarket at Alkaff Vista

Cons

• Jalan Wangi is not really within walking distance to the closest MRT (Potong Pasir, 13 minutes) but if you live along Wan Tho Avenue or Pheng Neck Avenue, it’s much closer
• Narrow, winding roads: driving through can be quite stressful (but depending on where your house is located, you may be able to plan your path to avoid the worst of the streets)
• Some houses don’t have parking inside, and street parking is not plentiful even on a normal day (potential disputes with neighbours)
• Many houses require sprucing up: it’s not fun living in the middle of a construction site!
• The surrounding main roads are busy, so you can hear the traffic if your house is close to the main road (but not from within the estate)

Neutral

• Close to an industrial estate
• 2 pre-schools in the estate (convenient for parents, maybe noisy for neighbours)
• Lined by high-rise condos on one side (increases the density of the area, and may block some light and wind, but also brings amenities to the area, and helps block off some of the traffic noise.)

ALSO READ: Touring Trevose Place: Freehold terrace houses with unblocked greenery views in District 11

This article was first published in Stackedhomes.