Cashew Villas
Overview & Key Facts
Cashew Villas is a 172-unit strata-landed terrace estate on Cashew Crescent in the Upper Bukit Timah corridor of District 23 (OCR), developed by Lucky Realty Co Pte Ltd (a subsidiary of Far East Organization) and completed in 2006. The development comprises three-storey terrace and semi-detached houses set within a low-density, greenery-rich enclave — a product profile that is categorically different from the 99-year leasehold condo towers that make up the bulk of D23’s new-launch pipeline. There are no shared condominium facilities (no communal pool, gym, or clubhouse): units have individual private outdoor spaces instead, and the “facilities” story here is the surrounding neighbourhood — the Rail Corridor, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, and the Cashew MRT door-to-station walk.
The tenure is a 999-year lease commencing 1883. That figure demands careful reading. A 999-year lease is not freehold — it is a very long leasehold — and crucially, URA, SLA, and MAS calculations apply the remaining term from today, not the original grant. With the lease dating to 1883, only approximately 79 years remain as of 2026. That figure matters because Singapore’s CPF and MAS rules are keyed to remaining lease: the 75-year CPF usage threshold is reached in approximately 4 years (around 2030), after which CPF deployment on resale is materially restricted and the buyer-financing pool shrinks. Buyers who see “999-year” on the brochure and assume freehold-equivalent financing treatment are making a serious underwriting error.
Against this backdrop, the transaction profile is investor-grade but not speculative: 25 sales at an average S$4,147,281 (median S$4,080,000, average PSF S$2,194) and 27 rental transactions averaging S$6,795 per month (median S$7,000) produce a gross yield of approximately 2.06% — modest by condo standards, but contextually consistent with strata-landed terrace pricing. The ShiokNest composite score of 44/100 reflects a product with genuine locational strengths (dual DTL walkability, forested quiet, good primary schooling) constrained by an accelerating lease-decay timeline and a price point that leaves limited margin for error.
Location & Connectivity
Cashew Crescent sits at the northern edge of the Upper Bukit Timah ridge — one of Singapore’s most distinctive residential corridors, defined by mature forest, the Rail Corridor greenway, and a low-density landed character that resists the densification seen elsewhere in D23. The address is genuinely quiet: generous road widths, minimal cut-through traffic, mature angsana canopy, and a forested backdrop that feels materially removed from the density of Choa Chu Kang or Bukit Batok despite the shared D23 postal district.
MRT access is the headline strength. Cashew MRT (DT2, Downtown Line) at approximately 570 metres and Pending LRT / Bus interchange at 560 metres together deliver a dual-station walkability picture that is exceptional for a strata-landed estate. In practice the Cashew DTL station is the primary draw: a 7–8 minute walk to a direct Downtown Line connection reaching the CBD (Bayfront) in 25–30 minutes without transfer. Petir LRT at 770 metres and Hillview DTL at approximately 1.0 km round out the options. The connectivity premium is real — most strata-landed estates in D23 require a drive to the MRT.
The school picture is strong at primary level. Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School at 790 metres is the most meaningful Phase 2C advantage the address offers: comfortably within the 1 km ballot priority band. Bukit Panjang Government High School at 1.11 km, Fajar Secondary at 1.15 km, and Springdale Primary at 1.22 km fill out the secondary and primary tier. International families have access to The Perse School Singapore in the broader Cashew corridor.
Daily retail and F&B are functional via a short MRT hop or drive. Hillion Mall (integrated with Bukit Panjang MRT/LRT interchange), Bukit Panjang Plaza, and HillV2 at Hillview are the primary retail destinations. Rail Mall — the boutique strip-mall beside the Rail Corridor — is a 10–15 minute walk and popular with the Cashew / Upper Bukit Timah landed community for its independent F&B cluster. Junction 10 at Bukit Timah provides supermarket (Cold Storage) and dining alternatives. The immediate street level on Cashew Crescent itself is purely residential — no convenience shops or hawkers within the estate. Residents should plan for a 1–2 MRT stop or short drive for most daily needs.
Nature access is a genuine amenity differentiator. The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore’s largest primary rainforest patch, is accessible via the Upper Bukit Timah corridor; the Rail Corridor linear park passes within walking distance and links north to south across the island. For households that treat green space, hiking, and cycling infrastructure as meaningful quality-of-life assets, the Cashew Crescent address is among the strongest in Singapore landed housing.
Schools & Education
1 primary school within the 1 km Priority Phase balloting radius.
| School | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
| Bukit Panjang Government High School | secondary | ~1.1 km |
| Fajar Secondary School | secondary | ~1.2 km |
| Springdale Primary School | primary | ~1.2 km |
| Bukit Panjang Primary School | primary | ~1.3 km |
| Xishan Primary School | primary | ~1.3 km |
| Greenridge Secondary School | secondary | ~1.5 km |
| Zhenghua Primary School | primary | ~1.7 km |
Facilities
Cashew Villas is a strata-landed terrace estate, not a condominium. There are no shared facilities in the conventional condo sense: no communal swimming pool, no gym, no clubhouse, no function room, no tennis court. The “facilities” story is the individual unit: each three-storey terrace comes with private outdoor space (garden, yard, or terrace depending on plot orientation), covered car parking for one to two cars, and the spacious vertical living that three-storey landed allows — bedrooms on upper floors, living and dining on the ground, with roof terraces possible on corner or end lots.
There is a guarded entrance to the estate providing 24-hour security access control. The clustered strata-landed format means maintenance fees are materially lower than full-facility condominiums: owners typically contribute to shared estate maintenance covering landscaping, boundary walls, security, and common driveway upkeep — estimated contributions in the S$200–400 range per month rather than the S$500–900+ carried by full-facility condo blocks. For yield-focused investors, that difference is basis points added back to net return.
“The greenery is the facility here — Rail Corridor is a ten-minute walk, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is accessible by bike. You get private parking, your own outdoor space, and none of the condo-pool drama. The trade-off is you drive to the gym.”
— Owner perspective on Cashew Villas estate lifestyle via Stacked Homes — touring 999-year landed estates near Cashew MRT
Buyers upgrading from a condominium lifestyle should stress-test the absence of shared recreational facilities before committing. The nearest public alternatives are ActiveSG facilities at Bukit Panjang (swimming, gym) and the HillV2 fitness offerings at Hillview. The surrounding green infrastructure — Rail Corridor jogging and cycling, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve trails, Zhenghua Park — partially substitutes for these, but it requires a mindset shift from on-site amenities to neighbourhood amenity.
Unit Sizes & Layout
The 172 units at Cashew Villas are predominantly 3-storey terrace houses with a smaller number of semi-detached units, developed on individual strata plots with land areas in the approximate 140–200 sqm range per plot. Built-up floor areas in recent transaction records span roughly 1,615 to 2,424 sqft (approximately 150–225 sqm), consistent with the 3-storey terrace typology: ground-floor living/dining/kitchen, two or three bedrooms and bathrooms on middle and upper floors, and roof-terrace or attic access on some units. Corner and end-of-terrace units command additional land and are the most sought-after configuration within the estate.
The 2006 completion vintage means units were delivered with mid-2000s specifications — solid but dated versus the 2020s-era finishes that rental and resale comparison condos now routinely offer. A thoughtful renovation budget of S$150,000–300,000 (larger than condo refresh budgets, reflecting the larger floor area and the 3-storey envelope) would bring kitchens, bathrooms, and finishes to premium-rental or resale-competitive standard. The structural envelope of a terrace house accommodates substantial A&A (additions and alterations) works more easily than a strata apartment, and owners who have invested in renovation typically achieve the upper end of the rental and resale range.
The PSF trend data — Year 1 S$1,898, Year 2 S$2,228, Year 3 S$2,157, Year 4 S$2,295, Year 5 S$1,891 — shows meaningful volatility in a thinly-traded sample (25 sales across all years). The thin transaction base means individual outlier sales create large PSF swings; buyers should treat these figures as directional anchors rather than precise market signals. The median transaction at S$4,080,000 and average PSF at S$2,194 are the more reliable reference points. With the D23 99-year leasehold condo cohort ranging from S$1,383 psf (Sol Acres) to S$2,053 psf (The Botany at Dairy Farm), Cashew Villas trades at a PSF premium of 7–59% to its condo peers — a premium that reflects the strata-landed product type, private outdoor space, and larger absolute floor plate, but which must be assessed against the accelerating lease-decay discount.
| Bedrooms | Transactions | Avg PSF | Avg Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 BR | 14 | $2,159 | $3,670,145 |
| 5 BR | 11 | $1,794 | $4,754,545 |
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 25 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $3,005,028 to $6,100,000, averaging $4,147,281 (~$2,194 psf).
Rents range from $4,800 to $8,500 per month across 27 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 2.1%.
Price Appreciation
From 2021 to 2026, the average PSF has appreciated by 4.4% (from $1,811 to $1,891 psf).
Neighbourhood Comparison
Comparing Cashew Villas to its D23 neighbour condominiums requires a product-type adjustment: strata-landed terraces and 99-year leasehold condos answer fundamentally different buyer briefs. The Botany at Dairy Farm (S$2,053 psf, 99yr, full condo facilities) is the closest-in-PSF condo comparison and illustrates the trade-off clearly: Botany buyers get a full facilities deck (pool, gym, BBQ, landscaping) and a 99-year fresh lease with no CPF restrictions, at a PSF level that is only modestly below Cashew Villas. Lumina Grand EC (S$1,515 psf, 99yr) and Dairy Farm Residences (S$1,659 psf, 99yr) illustrate the wider PSF discount available in the condo cohort for buyers not wedded to strata-landed. Sol Acres (S$1,383 psf, 99yr) and Midwood (S$1,731 psf, 99yr) round out the D23 condo market at the budget end.
The Cashew Villas premium over its condo peers — ranging from 7% over Botany to 59% over Sol Acres at the PSF level — reflects the product-type differential: private outdoor space, three-storey living, individual plot, no shared-facility competition. But that premium must be weighed against the growing CPF restriction headwind, the thin yield (2.06% gross versus typical condo yields of 3.0–4.0% in D23), and the absolute quantum (S$4M+ entry versus S$1.8M–2.5M for comparable-era D23 condos). Cashew Villas is not cheap relative to its condo peers on a yield or financing-flexibility basis; it is a lifestyle premium that buyers should price with both eyes open. For buyers who specifically want strata-landed in the Upper Bukit Timah corridor with DTL walkability, the Cashew Crescent enclave (Cashew Villas, Suncottages, Cashew Crescent Terraces) is the only game in town — there is no direct substitute. For buyers who are comparing landed versus condo on a value basis, the condo cohort is materially more efficient on yield, financing flexibility, and total-cost-of-ownership, particularly as the CPF restriction clock ticks.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CASHEW VILLAS | 999 yrs lease commencing from 1883 | 2006 | 172 | $2,194 |
| SOL ACRES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2014 | 2018 | 1,327 | $1,383 |
| MIDWOOD | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2018 | 2021 | 564 | $1,731 |
| LUMINA GRAND | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2022 | 2024 | 512 | $1,515 |
| DAIRY FARM RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2018 | 2021 | 460 | $1,659 |
| THE BOTANY AT DAIRY FARM | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2022 | 2023 | 386 | $2,053 |
Lease Decay Analysis
The 99-year lease runs from 2006, meaning approximately 20 years have already been consumed. Roughly 79 years remain — still comfortably within the range where most banks will offer full financing without restrictions.
| Year | Lease remaining | Implication |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (now) | ~79 years | Full bank financing available |
| 2036 | ~69 years | CPF usage still unrestricted for most buyers |
| 2045 | ~59 years | Approaching 60-year threshold — CPF limits begin for some |
| 2065 | ~39 years | Significant financing restrictions for next buyer |
| 2105 | Expiry | Lease reverts to state |
For a buyer purchasing today with a 10-year horizon (exit around 2036), the lease situation is essentially a non-issue — you’d be selling a property with ~69 years remaining, which is still very bankable. The risk profile changes for longer holds.
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates CASHEW VILLAS across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“We specifically looked for strata-landed near Cashew MRT and Cashew Villas came up repeatedly. The walk to the station is real — seven minutes on a good day. The Rail Corridor is five minutes in the other direction. For a terrace, the price felt fair relative to freehold landed further in. The 999-year thing needed some explaining to our bank but the loan cleared fine.”
— Purchaser on MRT walkability and financing experience via EdgeProp — Cashew Villas buyer commentary
“We’ve been renting here for two years. The size is what struck us first — coming from a condo, three storeys feels enormous. The kids have their own floor. It’s green and quiet, Pei Hwa is right there for primary, and Cashew MRT handles the commute. No pool is the obvious miss but Rail Corridor runs are the substitute. Maintenance is cheap.”
— Tenant family on space, schooling, and lifestyle trade-offs via Singapore Expats — Cashew MRT condo and landed directory
“Looked at it as an investment. Rental at S$6,500–7,000 is achievable but the CPF question came up in every conversation with buyers’ agents when I tried to sell. One agent told me that in three or four years, the buyer pool changes meaningfully. We sold. The yield is thin at this price point and the exit math gets harder with each passing year.”
— Investor-seller on rental yield and resale buyer-pool concerns via Stacked Homes — 999-year landed estate near Cashew MRT
The resident and buyer picture is consistent: families appreciate the space premium, the Cashew DTL walkability, the Pei Hwa school proximity, and the Upper Bukit Timah green setting. Investor-owners note thin gross yield (2.06%) and a resale buyer pool that is already beginning to navigate CPF complexity. The shared pattern is that this is a product for lifestyle-led owner-occupiers with a medium-term horizon, not a pure yield instrument or a long-dated capital-appreciation hold.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Dual DTL walkability — Cashew DTL (DT2) at 570m and Pending at 560m: exceptional for strata-landed, most terraces require a drive to MRT
- Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary within 790m — comfortably inside Phase 2C 1km priority ballot band
- Upper Bukit Timah / Rail Corridor setting — among Singapore's most prized low-density, nature-rich residential corridors
- Strata-landed product premium — private outdoor space, 3-storey floor plate (~1,615–2,424 sqft), individual parking for 1–2 cars
- No shared-facilities competition — estate maintenance fees estimated S$200–400/month vs S$500–900+ for full-facility condos
- 999-year lease origin (1883) — still commands legacy-tenure framing even with 79yr remaining, historically valued by Singaporean market
- Low-density, quiet enclave — 172 units, generous road widths, mature tree canopy, no high-rise mass around the estate
- Rail Corridor and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve accessible — green leisure infrastructure substitutes meaningfully for absent on-site recreation
- Far East Organization subsidiary developer (Lucky Realty) — brand credibility and established estate management track record
- Hillion Mall, HillV2, Junction 10, Rail Mall within 1–2 MRT stops or short drive — functional retail without driving into the estate
- Strong profitability score (72/100) — market has sustained a meaningful PSF premium over 99yr condo peers across multiple transaction cycles
- CPF usage restriction arrives in ~4 years (circa 2030) — remaining lease drops below 75yr, progressively restricting CPF deployment for subsequent buyers by age cohort
- 999yr lease is NOT freehold — URA/SLA/MAS rules apply remaining lease (79yr), not original grant; buyer financing treated same as 79yr leasehold
- Sub-75yr CPF threshold in 4yr shrinks buyer pool — agents report CPF complexity already surfacing in resale negotiations
- Thin gross yield of 2.06% — at S$4M+ entry, rental of S$6,795/month is cash-flow negative under standard mortgage servicing
- No communal pool, gym, or clubhouse — buyers upgrading from condo lifestyle must adjust expectations; nearest public alternatives require a drive
- High absolute quantum (S$4M+) — significant CPF/cash outlay versus D23 condo alternatives at S$1.8M–2.5M
- Thin transaction volume (25 sales) — price-discovery is limited; individual outlier sales create large PSF swings in the data
- Immediate walkable retail/hawker sparse — daily conveniences require a drive or MRT hop; no convenience shop within the estate itself
- En-bloc score 43/100 — strata-landed en-bloc math is complex with 172 individual plot owners and differing plot sizes/configurations
- D23 condo competitors at 7–59% PSF discount with fresh 99yr leases and full facilities — Botany at Dairy Farm at S$2,053 psf is particularly relevant
Verdict
Cashew Villas occupies a genuine but narrow market position: a strata-landed terrace estate in one of Singapore’s most appealing low-density corridors, with exceptional dual-DTL walkability for a product of its type, strong primary-school proximity (Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary within 1 km), a forested green setting, and a private-outdoor-space product profile that commands a structural PSF premium over the 99-year leasehold condo cohort it sits alongside in D23. For the right buyer profile — Singaporean families upgrading from condo to strata-landed, who value the Upper Bukit Timah / Rail Corridor address, can absorb the absolute quantum (S$4M+), and are lease-aware — the case is coherent.
The case against is increasingly urgent as the lease clock runs. With approximately 79 years remaining and the CPF usage restriction threshold arriving in roughly 4 years, every subsequent resale buyer faces a progressively smaller CPF deployment window. This is not a risk that reveals itself slowly: in 2030, a 35-year-old buyer who needs full CPF usage will already be in the restricted zone. The buyer pool that can finance Cashew Villas with full CPF and competitive loan terms is shrinking — not over decades, but within the typical 5-to-10-year ownership window of most current buyers. Sellers in 2031 or 2032 will face a market where meaningful CPF restriction is already active.
The composite scores tell the balanced story: Walkability 45/100 (despite dual-DTL, the daily retail self-sufficiency is low without a drive), Investment 50/100, En-Bloc 43/100 (strata-landed en-bloc math is complex with 172 owners and individual plot interests), Profitability 72/100 (the strongest score, reflecting the genuine landed-premium that the market has paid), ShiokNest 44/100. The MRT-access and neighbourhood ratings are genuine positives; the lease score is the drag that a 7/10 neighbourhood cannot overcome. Buy with a clear 5-to-8-year exit plan, price the CPF restriction risk into your acquisition price, and do not underwrite this as a generational family home.