A list of 50 trendy walk-up apartments for alternative home buys

Walk-up apartments are getting increasingly popular right now, with larger condos being too pricey. It’s usually quite a niche choice, as they are a lot older in age and typically do not come with any facilities, to begin with (yes, no security as well).

But this means that monthly maintenance costs are very minimal, and they have the advantage of more spacious interiors as well, which is a major attraction as you can do whatever you please with the interiors. The problem, however, is finding them.

There’s not much data available on these old properties, and many listings are out of date. For your convenience, we’ve highlighted a few interesting areas and options, that may have gone under the radar. Here’s where to look for a home that’s a bit vintage and different:

Where can you find walk-up apartments in Singapore?

There isn’t any kind of “official master list”, and some of these properties date back to the ‘60s. It doesn’t help that these projects have no official “name”, they just have an address – so you need to have a very specific idea of where you’re looking for.

For your convenience, we’ve put together a list of some – but by no means all – of the walk-ups you could find today:

Why so little detail?

Unfortunately, details are hard to find for walk-up apartments. Floor plans are often non-existent, and transactions may not have caveats lodged (not that it would be too helpful anyway, with just a handful sold every few years). Even the completion date may not show up on records.

For walk-up apartments, details are obtained on a case-by-case basis; and it’s best to contact a realtor specialised in the area, or in this particular segment of the property market.

We can still pick out a few outstanding options

Even with limited information, the following places stood out for us, on strength of location:

1. Belmont Road, 269857 (District 10)

This walk-up really sticks out in its location. All along Belmont Road, you’ll see some of the most expensive and lavish landed properties… then out of nowhere comes this walk-up.

To its credit, however, this is one of the best-maintained walk-ups we’ve seen (it’s true that everything along Belmont Road is fancy). Not to mention, this is almost as private and exclusive as it can get.

This walk-up is situated barely 600 metres from Holland Village MRT station (around an eight-minute walk). This means residents get the exclusivity of a prime landed district, while still being within walking distance of an MRT station, supermarkets, nightlife establishments, Holland V, etc. Also once the One Holland Village rejuvenation is complete, this will definitely improve the offerings in the area even more.

The closest point of price comparison we have would be The Belmont, a freehold condo completed in 2008; it’s less than 100 metres down the road from this walk-up. There were only two transactions here for all of 2021, at around $1,935 psf, and $1,897 psf respectively.

2. Chiang’s Court, 455237 (District 15)

Want to live within the famous Siglap landed enclaves, without paying landed home prices? Here are two options:

The first would be 77@East Coast, a boutique, new launch condo in this area.

The second would be to look for Chiang’s Court, which is just two minutes up the same stretch. We actually do have a bit of information on this walk-up:

It’s a freehold property completed in 1991, with units ranging from around 1,119 sq. ft. to about 1,475 sq. ft. Like most walk-ups, transaction volumes are very low; but it may help to know there was a sale in July 2020, when a 1,120 sq. ft. unit changed hands for just around $1,027 psf.

A quantum of $1.15 million is quite a good deal for an exclusive, low-density area like Siglap. While there’s no MRT station nearby currently (Siglap MRT station is upcoming though), we note that the nearby bus stop is just around four or five stops from the heart of the East Coast lifestyle area (near Joo Chiat and i12 Katong). It’s also about a seven-minute walk to Siglap Centre, where you’ll find Cold Storage; and there are plenty of dining options all along the stretch leading there.

This walk-up is just three minutes away from The Hacienda, described below.

3. The Hacienda, 457912 (District 15)

This walk-up is quite close to Chaing’s Court (above) and has the same locational advantages (close to the upcoming Siglap MRT station). The Hacienda is directly behind the upcoming 77@East Coast, and across the road from Infini at East Coast.

If you’re interested in these two new launches, The Hacienda is worth a look. Note that, even though this is a walk-up, it does have some common facilities. There is a BBQ area, pool, and private security. Of course, these are not on the scale of newer full-blown condos; but most walk-ups don’t even offer any of these so it’s definitely a plus point here.

ALSO READ: Walk-up apartments: Treasures or traps?

There are only 109 units, but they’re huge – going all the way up to around 1,894 sq. ft.

The Hacienda was completed in 1986, and the façade is visibly dated; but it is freehold, which mitigates some of the age issues. There’s also a fair amount of activity, transactions-wise:

Date	Unit Size	Price PSF	Quantum
07/04/2021	1,894 sq. ft.	Approx. $1,251 psf	Approx. $2.37 million
15/03/2021	1,895 sq. ft.	Approx. $1,214 psf	Approx. $2.3 million
09/03/2021	1,206 sq. ft.	Approx. $1,559 psf	Approx. $1.88 million
05/02/2021	1,561 sq. ft.	Approx. $1,217 psf	Approx. $1.9 million

4. Binjai Park, 589819 (District 21)

Binjai Park is one of the fancier landed enclaves, in the pricey Bukit Timah area. This walk-up has no tall buildings near it, being primarily surrounded by high-end bungalows.

The exclusivity, however, doesn’t come with the usual lack of convenience for non-drivers. The location is roughly just half a kilometre from Beauty World Centre; it’s around a seven-minute walk. This provides foot access to Beauty World MRT station as well, on the Downtown Line.

There’s also quite a lot of food options just at your doorstep, with Hup Choon Zhi Char, Lino (an Italian restaurant), and IVINS Peranakan restaurant, just to name a few. FairPrice Xpress and Ryan’s Grocery have also recently opened too, so getting groceries is super convenient.

More important for nature lovers, living here puts you near the boundary line of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve; so you can easily go there for a stroll when you feel like it. The entrance to the Rail Corridor is about a kilometre away, and most people could bike there in under 10 minutes.

There aren’t any condos or apartments nearby, however, so unfortunately there are no prices to reference.

5. Novena Hill, 308663 (D11)

Do you absolutely need to stay in Novena, but can’t afford the crazy prices there?

Well, if you’re not big on aesthetics and facilities, Novena Hill might be your solution. We’ll tell you straight up, this is not a pretty-looking development; it suffers a lot in contrast with the high-end, landed homes around it.

But Novena MRT station (North South Line) is just a six-minute walk from this development, and that’s also where you’ll find Velocity, the major mall for this area. Square 2, also a decent-sized mall, is even close at around a seven-minute walk. In short, you aren’t going to suffer from a lack of food and retail options in this area.

While Novena Hill dates back to 1975, it is a freehold property, which slightly mitigates the age issue. Surprisingly for an old property, units here are quite small – they range between 657 to around 711 sq. ft.

There was a recent transaction in December 2021, with a 710 sq. ft. unit selling for around $1,617 psf, or about $1.148 million. This is one of the cheapest options we’ve seen for a freehold property in Novena; but we’d call this a no-frills option, for those who are interested purely in the location. 

Novena Court is also another property to look at if you are interested in a freehold walk-up apartment in the area. This one is even closer to the action at Novena, but you’d have to contend with road noise and construction which is still ongoing on Thomson Road.

This article was first published in Stackedhomes.