Balestier - Red-light area to red-hot property

Balestier is shrugging off its unsavoury red-light reputation and luring buyers with some new projects.

A key move in the area's makeover was the refurbishing of the Sun Yat Sun Memorial Hall and the integrated hotel-park complex comprising Zhongshan Mall, Zhongshan Park, and the Days and Ramada hotels.

Buyers, including expatriates on tight budgets forced out of the city centre, see Balestier as a handy substitute given its proximity to the centre of town but with prices below those for neighbouring Novena and Toa Payoh.


Prices in the Novena area were around $2,000 psf. Recent residential developments include The Interweave, SkySuites 17 and One Dusun Residences.

Resale activity in Balestier has moderated lately with projects registering between one and three resale deals a quarter.

While this type of market movement is in line with the general slowdown islandwide, prices for resale homes have been rising in the past two years.

Last year, they rose by between 4 and 7 per cent following increases of between 5 and 10 per cent the previous year.

Source: The Straits Times –23 March 2013