Popular Estate
Overview & Key Facts
Popular Estate is a small freehold strata development tucked along Jalan Remaja in District 23 — a quiet residential street on the fringe of the Dairy Farm and Hillview enclave, flanked by Bukit Timah Nature Reserve to the south-east and the Bukit Panjang planning area to the north. The development is freehold, which is a meaningful distinction in a district where the majority of new condominium supply is on 99-year leasehold tenures.
With only three recorded transactions on the URA database — a very small sample even by boutique-development standards — Popular Estate carries a statistical caveat that shapes every data point on this page. The average transacted price of approximately S$3.93 million and median of S$3.70 million reflect a handful of deals rather than a liquid market, and the gross yield of 1.36% is based on a single rental transaction at S$4,200 per month. Buyers should treat these figures as directional rather than conclusive. URA’s REALIS database remains the authoritative source for verifying individual transaction histories.
What Popular Estate offers is less about volume data and more about tenure rarity and location character: a freehold foothold in one of Singapore’s greenest residential districts, at a price point that reflects the Hillview enclave’s premium over the surrounding 99-year condo market. The ShiokNest score of 14/100 and investment score of 21/100 reflect the thin data picture rather than a negative judgement on the asset — models calibrated on hundreds of transactions are inherently less reliable when applied to a development with three.
Location & Connectivity
Jalan Remaja sits within the Hillview planning subzone of District 23, one of Singapore’s most distinctive residential pockets. The street runs between Upper Bukit Timah Road to the north-east and the fringes of the Dairy Farm nature corridor to the south, placing residents within easy reach of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve — Singapore’s primary patch of primary rainforest and a 163-hectare protected area. The Dairy Farm Nature Park, the Wallace Trail, and the Southern Ridges park connector system are all within a short drive or moderate walk, making this one of Singapore’s best addresses for residents who prioritise green access over urban density.
The nearest MRT station is Hillview MRT (DT3) on the Downtown Line, approximately 10–12 minutes on foot from Jalan Remaja. The Downtown Line is one of Singapore’s more useful lines for city-bound commuters, connecting Hillview through Beauty World, King Albert Park, and Botanic Gardens to Bugis and Bayfront without a transfer. Commute to the CBD (Raffles Place/Downtown) takes around 30–35 minutes by train once at the station. Residents with cars are considerably better served: the BKE (Bukit Timah Expressway) on-ramp at Upper Bukit Timah Road places Orchard Road around 15–18 minutes away in off-peak conditions.
Day-to-day retail anchors in the Hillview cluster include HillV2 (a mid-market mall adjacent to Hillview MRT with Cold Storage, F&B outlets, and lifestyle retail) and The Rail Mall along Upper Bukit Timah Road — a low-rise strip of restaurants, a Cold Storage, cafes, and boutique shops favoured by the upper-Bukit Timah residential community. Hillview Community Club, Hillview Market Place, and a cluster of neighbourhood provision shops complete the local amenity picture. Junction 10 at Choa Chu Kang and West Mall at Bukit Timah are reachable in under 10 minutes by car for broader retail needs.
For families, the school landscape within the broader Hillview catchment includes Lianhua Primary School (approximately 1.5–2 km away), CHIJ Our Lady Queen of Peace, and Dazhong Primary School — as well as several well-regarded international schools in the Upper Bukit Timah corridor: Canadian International School, German European School Singapore, and Dulwich College Singapore. None of these are walking-distance from Jalan Remaja, but they are within a short drive, making this corridor popular with expatriate families enrolled at international schools.
Facilities
As a boutique strata development with a very small number of units, Popular Estate is unlikely to offer the resort-style facilities associated with mid-size or large-scale condominiums. Strata cluster developments of this size in Singapore typically provide shared landscaped common areas, covered car parking, perimeter security, and basic outdoor amenity space — the emphasis is on privacy and a landed-adjacent lifestyle rather than a clubhouse experience. Residents seeking a full-facility profile (50m lap pool, gym, function rooms, tennis courts) should consider larger neighbouring developments such as The Dairy Farm or the newer Dairy Farm Residences instead.
What the Hillview neighbourhood compensates with is exceptional natural amenity access. The Dairy Farm Nature Park, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, and the Park Connector Network (PCN) running through the Hillview area effectively extend the development’s “facilities” into a world-class outdoor recreation backdrop — jogging trails, mountain-biking tracks, birdwatching, and the Wallace Trail are all accessible without a car. Jalan Remaja Interim Park, directly on the street, provides a small community green space. For residents who value nature access over built recreational infrastructure, this neighbourhood is difficult to beat in Singapore.
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 3 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $3,700,000 to $4,400,000, averaging $3,933,333.
Rents range from $4,200 to $4,200 per month across 1 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 1.4%.
Price Appreciation
From 2023 to 2024, the average PSF has appreciated by 11.4% (from $1,665 to $1,855 psf).
Neighbourhood Comparison
Within D23, Popular Estate’s freehold PSF of S$1,665–1,855 benchmarks favourably against the established 99-year leasehold condo market. Sol Acres (S$1,383 psf, 99-year) and Lumina Grand (S$1,515 psf, 99-year EC) sit meaningfully below on a PSF basis — but they offer full condo-grade facilities, hundreds of units, and greater liquidity. Dairy Farm Residences (S$1,659 psf, 99-year) and Midwood (S$1,731 psf, 99-year) occupy the mid-tier of the D23 leasehold market with better brand recognition and larger transaction databases. The Botany at Dairy Farm at S$2,053 psf (99-year new launch) is the price leader among recent launches, reflecting the new-launch premium but still on a depreciating tenure.
Against the two most comparable boutique freehold alternatives in the corridor, The Dairy Farm (a larger freehold condominium on Dairy Farm Road) offers more facilities, better market data, and a more established resale track record at a comparable price range. Century Mansions (2m Jalan Remaja, 64-unit freehold, completed 1998) is the closest like-for-like peer on the same street, with a more liquid 64-unit pool providing a better pricing benchmark. Buyers evaluating Popular Estate should use Century Mansions transactions as a cross-reference for fair value before committing.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| POPULAR ESTATE | Freehold | — | — | — |
| 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 |
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates POPULAR ESTATE across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“Living in the Hillview area gives you the best of both worlds — you can walk the nature trails at the weekend and still be in the CBD in half an hour by MRT. The greenery here is genuinely unmatched anywhere else in Singapore at this price point.”
— D23 resident, Hillview enclave (via community forums)
“You have to be comfortable in a car-first lifestyle. The MRT walk is manageable but it’s not the same as living next to a station. Once you accept that, the neighbourhood is incredibly peaceful — it feels like you’re not in Singapore sometimes, and that is exactly why we chose it.”
— Hillview area homeowner, Upper Bukit Timah corridor
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Freehold tenure — perpetual ownership with no lease decay
- D23 PSF (S$1,665–S$1,855) competitive against 99-year leasehold new launches in same district
- Hillview MRT (DT3 Downtown Line) approximately 10–12 minutes walk
- Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Dairy Farm Nature Park within easy reach
- Hillview enclave — one of Singapore's most sought-after nature-adjacent residential pockets
- International school corridor (Canadian, German European, Dulwich) for expatriate families
- The Rail Mall and HillV2 nearby for daily retail needs
- Park Connector Network (PCN) access — Hillview Green Corridor for cycling and jogging
- Boutique privacy — very low unit count, quiet residential street
- No lease-decay re-financing risk over long hold horizon
- Only 3 transactions on record — thin data makes valuation and return modelling unreliable
- Gross yield 1.36% — very low even by freehold Singapore standards
- No walkability score (N/A) — car-dependent for most daily needs
- Hillview MRT walk (10–12 min) is manageable but not MRT-adjacent convenience
- ShiokNest score 14/100 and investment score 21/100 reflect data limitations
- Boutique size means limited MCST resources and potentially higher per-unit maintenance obligations
- No large-scale condo facilities (pool, gym, tennis) — lifestyle tradeoff vs full-facility developments
- En-bloc potential 17/100 — small land parcel limits redevelopment thesis
- No nearby primary school within 1 km (affects P1 ballot priority)
- High absolute entry price (median S$3.7M) limits buyer pool and resale liquidity
Verdict
Popular Estate is a property that will appeal to a narrow but clearly defined buyer profile: the freehold-committed, nature-oriented household that prioritises perpetual tenure and greenery over transport convenience or facility breadth. It is not a property for MRT-dependent commuters, yield-seekers (1.36% gross yield is thin even against a full-price freehold premium), or buyers looking for a data-rich investment thesis. The transaction volume is simply too small to establish reliable return patterns.
Where the case builds is on qualitative grounds. Freehold land in D23 — a district that sits at the confluence of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, the Hillview enclave, and some of Singapore’s most sought-after international school corridors — does not come to market often. The PSF range of S$1,665–1,855 is competitive against 99-year leasehold new launches in the same district, and unlike those developments, Popular Estate’s tenure does not decay. For long-horizon, own-stay buyers — particularly those with school-age children eyeing the international school corridor, or households where at least one member works from home and values daily nature access — the location trades above its headline score.
The en-bloc score of 17/100 is low but not surprising for a small freehold strata development: en-bloc potential is typically tied to land size, plot ratio headroom, and developer appetite, all of which are harder to model on micro-sites. The investment score of 21/100 reflects model limitations on thin data. Treat both scores as data-gap indicators rather than structural negatives. Verify current listings, speak to the MCST, and obtain a professional valuation before committing to any transaction at these price levels.