By RENNIE WHANG

THE upcoming Thomson-EastCoast Line (TEL) will ease trans-port woes for many thousands ofcommuters and help send homeprices north, consultants said.

The 13km stretch could trans-form the area’s prospects over-night by bringing the central busi-ness district and other parts of theisland within striking distance.

“For a long time, residents inthe East Coast have been relyingon buses or private transport,”noted OrangeTee research headChristine Li in a report yesterday.

“With better accessibility, ex-isting and future properties in thearea will benefit positively in thelong run.”

The line is set to pass throughTanjong Rhu, Katong Park, Am-ber, Marine Parade, Marine Ter-race, Siglap, Bayshore, BedokSouth and Sungei Bedok, accord-ing to a Land Transport Authorityannouncement last week.

It will significantly cut travel-ling time to the central city andthe northern part of Singapore.

A resident going from MarineParade to Shenton Way will halvehis journey time from 40 to 20minutes, for example.

Colliers International researchand advisory director Chia SiewChuin said private residential are-as from Tanjong Rhu through toMarine Parade and the boutique

developments in Siglap and Bay-shore will enjoy the most accessi-bility as they do not have MRT ac-cess now.

“Moving further east to BedokSouth, the impact could be less,as residents there have had someaccess to the Bedok and Tanah Me-rah MRT stations,” she added.

Ms Li said 99-year leaseholdcondominiums such as CasuarinaCove, Tanjong Ria Condominiumand Water Place in Tanjong Rhucould be among the winners,while the freehold Meyer Resi-dence and The Belvedere in Ka-tong Park are near enough to bene-

fit as well. At Amber Road,projects that may enjoy some liftare mostly small to medium-sizedfreehold apartments like Aalto,Amber Point and King’s Mansion,she added.

Condominiums at Marine Pa-rade like Cote D’Azur, The Palladi-um and The Seaview could enjoyprice gains as could projects inSiglap and Bayshore such as La-goon View, Laguna Park, Elliot atthe East Coast, Bayshore Park,The Bayshore and Costa Del Sol.

Median prices of non-landedproperties near the stations rang-es from $905 at Sungei Bedok to

$1,547 at Katong Park, noted SLPInternational research head Nicho-las Mak.

He estimated that some proper-ty owners may increase their ask-ing prices by 5 to 10 per cent overthe next few months – as seenwhen the stations were an-nounced for the North-East Line(NEL).

“People just wanted to capital-ise on the news and they knewthat their property would eventu-ally appreciate. Granted, that waswhen the market was more buoy-ant,” Mr Mak added.

But the full benefits would only

be reaped when the line nears com-pletion, he added, suggesting thatthe sweet spot would be a24-month period, one year beforeand one after the service gets go-ing.Mr Mak, who based his esti-mates on when the NEL came intooperation, believes there could bea 10 to 12 per cent rise in pricesover that two-year period.

Some upcoming projects in thearea include CapitaLand’s124-unit Marine Blue at Marine Pa-rade Road, which has not yet beenlaunched, and 109-unit AmberSkye at Amber Road, said R’ST Re-search director Ong Kah Seng.

Amber Skye, a joint venture be-tween China Sonangol Land andOKP Land, had launched 28 unitsas at the end of last month, withfive selling.

Mr Ong said the MRT stationswould help sales move faster butwould probably not result in devel-opers raising their selling prices.

“If developers peg prices com-petitively to attract buyers, espe-cially investors, project sales willmove faster. A convenient loca-tion will make it easier for inves-tors or landlords to rent out theirproperty.”

But should the total debt servic-ing ratio (TDSR) framework stickaround, projects priced at $1,400to $2,000 psf would not havemuch interest as that is the pricerange where buyers still need aloan – a far harder task thesedays, he added.

wrennie@sph.com.sgL SEE MONEY PAGES C2 & C5

TEL expected toboost propertyprospects onthe East Coast

The price of properties along the East Coast such as (from left) Bayshore, Siglap and Marine Terrace are likely to rise when the TEL begins operating. ST FILE PHOTO

C5 Tips and more at Young & Savvy talkC2

New MRT line may perk up home salesMedian price ofnon-landed propertiesnear TEL MRT stations

Tanjong RhuKatong ParkAmberMarine ParadeMarine TerraceSiglapBayshoreBedok SouthSungei Bedok

Source: SLP INTERNATIONALPROPERTY CONSULTANTS

$1,233$1,547$1,488$1,276$1,027$939$1,068$1,133$905

$ psf

NOTE: Taken from caveats whose contractdates are between January 2014 to July 2014

ST GRAPHICS

New MRT line a boon to those nearby

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CMONEYSPORT S A T U R D A Y , A U G U S T 2 3 , 2 0 1 4 C1