Photo credits: Loh Xiu Ruth
From swampland to Singapore’s second Central Business District (CBD), Jurong East today is part of Singapore’s largest industrial area. With a HDB resident population of approximately 80,000, it has significantly carved a niche for itself as Singapore’s “Orchard Road of the West” — multiple extensive malls including Jem and Westgate.
The Jurong Lake District, which includes the Jurong East area, spans some 360 hectares and is expected to have four MRT lines with direct connections to Changi Business District and Changi Airport by 2035. Nurturing more than 170 hectares of parks and waterbodies, innovative green technologies will also be integrated into its infrastructure and other elements for sustainable living.
Head of research, Darren Teo commented that while resale prices have somewhat stalled with the delay of the HSR, coupled with the latest cooling measures, new infrastructure projects such as the new integrated tourism development, Jurong East integrated transport hub and the Jurong Region MRT line will likely have an upward influence on prices in Jurong East.
These developments are underpinned by plans to transform a currently vacant plot of land the size of 10 football fields. The land is next to Chinese Garden MRT station, and has been earmarked for hotels, lifestyle attractions and a new national Science Centre. The Jurong East integrated transport hub will be due for completion next year, and the Jurong Region MRT line will also open its doors to passengers starting 2026.
However, this upward pressure is not yet evident, as research shows a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) increase of 0.2 per cent in Jurong East’s median private non-landed residential unit prices between 2014 and the first half of 2019. This compares with the islandwide CAGR increase of 0.7 per cent for private non-landed residential units. The announcement about the delay in the HSR, coupled with the latest cooling measures, may have resulted in a slight decrease in resale volume with prices largely remaining flat.
