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The Best Places to Live in

Singapore

With its generous salaries, inviting climate, and

modern way of life, Singapore is an attractive
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relocation destination for many expats. Newcomers to
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checklists-ebook).

If you are heading to Singapore to start a new expat life, you should

know some of the most popular expat destinations. But rst, let us
explain something about Singapore: the island nation is a city-
state, and therefore does not have its own cities. Instead, it is made
up of 55 “planning areas.”

Rather than talking you through the best cities in Singapore, this

guide will tell you about the best planning areas and most unique
neighborhoods that are especially attractive to expats. For example,
nd out why Orchard is near the top of many expat lists. We also give
you a rundown of life in Novena, which is more relaxed than
Orchard, and Woodlands, which connects the country to Malaysia.

At a Glance
• Approximately 80% of Singaporean households live in a
home built by the Housing & Development Board (HDB).

• More than 90% of Singaporeans own their home, with

renting being less popular.

• After a major re in a squatter settlement called Bukit

Ho Swee, the Singaporean government built about 51,000 new
apartments, re-housing about 400,000 people, between 1961 and
1965.

• In 2019, the Mercer Cost of Living Survey ranked Singapore as

the third most expensive city for expats.

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Singapore’s Most Popular Cities

Singapore is a city-state. There are  ve main regions in the city-state,
each with a regional center. They are:

Region Regional Center Population

Central Region Central Area 930,900
East Region Tampines 690,510
North Region Woodlands 543,630
North-East Region Seletar 889,300
West Region Jurong East 911,760

There are 55 planning areas in Singapore. The most

densely populated are Bedok, Jurong West, Tampines, Woodlands,
and Hougang. The planning areas are then divided into further
subzones.

Orchard

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If you want to live in the center of everything, Orchard is the place for
you. It is where most of the shopping malls and central business
districts are located. The main thoroughfare running through the
neighborhood is Orchard Road. It is from this road that the rest of the
area spreads out. If you are into fashion, you can nd
trendy brands and exclusive designer label stores on Orchard Road.

The Singaporean government and the Urban Redevelopment

Authority plan to introduce the Central Business District
(CBD) Incentive Scheme, which could see 20,000 new apartments built
in the center of the city-state. The idea is to breathe life into the
area at night, as well as during the day, so the CBD becomes a place to
live, work, and play 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The
government plans to o er property developers a more attractive deal
for creating residential units in the CBD.

Size of the Neighborhood
There are just under 1,000 people living in Orchard, so any new
residential developments could allow this number to increase
signi cantly. This also means that the demand for residential real
estate is high. In the third quarter of 2019, the availability of homes
in District 9, where Orchard is located, dropped by nearly 2%. Orchard
Road, which Orchard surrounds, is 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers) long.

Working Opportunities
Due to all of the retail outlets on Orchard Road, the retail industry is a
major source of jobs in the area. The tourism and property
industries also play a part.

Roles like a concierge, retail supervisor or assistant, operations

assistant, or a guest service executive (at hotels) are common. Also
typical are jobs in the property sector, such as a center manager.

Finance is another major player in the Orchard area, with some

lucrative salaries on o er. Examples of these available opportunities
are:

• nance manager;

• nancial accountant;

• bank manager;

• nance executive;
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 • administrative assistant;

• planning and performance partner;

• nance team leader.

Unsurprisingly, jobs in nance tend to be some of the better-

paid positions available. Finance managers can expect to earn
anything from 6,000 to 23,000 SGD (4,400 to 16,800 USD) a month.
The average for this role is approximately 8,000 SGD (5,850 USD).

Cost of Living
Expect to pay at least 750,000 SGD (550,000 USD) for a property in
Orchard. For this amount, you can get a property between 330
and 460 square feet (301 and 43 square meters).

According to PropertyGuru, in the third quarter of 2019, 53 of the 106

non-landed private residential properties that sold above 5 million
SGD in Orchard were bought by foreign nationals.

Orchard is Singapore’s most expensive area to buy property. Homes

cost 2,600 SGD (1,900 USD) per square foot (0.09 square meters) on
average. According to PropertyGuru, the percentage of foreign buyers
purchasing property in the Core Central Region (CCR) of Singapore has
risen from 37% in the rst quarter of 2018 to 50% in the third quarter
of 2019.

Cultural Life
According to a Pew Research Center study, Singapore is the most
religiously diverse nation in the world. Religious holidays such as
Christmas, Deepvali, Hari Raya Aidil tri, Vesak Day, and the Chinese
New Year are all celebrated in Singapore.

The Singapore tourism board promotes the island city-state based in

its multiculturality. Singapore’s visa laws are reasonable, but they
favor skilled and highly paid workers.

InterNations has an active expat community
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Singapore, and several expats talk about how particularly welcoming
their community is. They describe the city-state as a melting pot of
people from all over the world.

As we mentioned earlier, a signi cant chunk of luxury homes in

Orchard are bought by foreigners (50% in Q3 of 2019), making it
a popular area for expats to live in. If  you have kids, you can nd
Chatsworth International School and The Tanglin Club in the area.

Transportation
As Orchard is so central, it is well-placed to reach various parts of the
island. It has several MRT
stations, including Orchard and Somerset. You can also catch a bus.
For example, it takes approximately 11 minutes from Orchard Road to
Tanglin on the 123, 7, or 7B bus.

Novena
Novena is a planning area in the Central Region of Singapore. It is
popular among expats for a number of reasons. For starters, you can
easily get to Orchard and its shops and businesses by taking the
MRT one or two stops. There are also two expressways servicing the
area. In addition, there are more family housing options than what
can be found in Orchard.

Size of the Neighborhood
There are a little under 50,000 people living in Novena. The largest age
group, about 8,630 people, are between 40 and 50 years old. This is
only the 25th largest planning area in
Singapore, and it includes the subzones Balestier,
Moulmein, Dunearn, Malcolm, and Mount Pleasant.

In terms of geographical size, Novena is 8.98 square kilometers (3.5

square miles).

Working Opportunities
With Novena being well-supported by transport options
and expressways, it is easy to get to various parts of the city-state
from here. As mentioned, jobs in Orchard would be easily
commutable.

One of the main employers in the area is the Mount Elizabeth Novena

Hospital, a 333-bed hospital with private suites. Some of the
most common jobs
GETin Novena that could suit expats include
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 • nancial advisor;

• project manager;

• sta nurse;

• clinic assistant;

• customer relations o cer (hospital);

• nance executive;

• HR manager.

Cost of Living
If you want to rent in Novena, it costs approximately 2,400 SGD (1,750
USD) for a studio apartment or one-bedroom home; 3,500 SGD (2,560
USD) for a two-bedroom home; 4,300 SGD (3,140 USD) for a three-
bedroom home; and 7,250 SGD (5,300 USD) for a four-
bedroom home.

If you want to buy a home, it is around 1.04 million SGD (760,000

USD) for a studio apartment or one-bedroom home; 1.49 million
SGD (1.09 million SGD) for a two-bedroom home; 2.02
million SGD (1.48 million USD) for a three-bedroom home; and 4.95
million SGD (3.6 million USD) for a four-bedroom home.

Cultural Life
Novena is set up nicely for its expat community. There
are several international schools to choose from, such as the
Stamford American International School. The Kids Learning Mall in
Union Square is the perfect spot for parents and children to spend the
day. There are music, language, art, ballet, drama, and speech classes,
plus children’s fashion stores, as well as restaurants and bakeries.

Transportation
Novena has an MRT station, called Novena. It only takes 20 minutes to
get from Novena to Orchard Road on the North South Line. There are
also bus services that can be even quicker.

Woodlands
Woodlands is one of the most popular destinations for expats in
Singapore. You can nd this planning area in the North of the city-
state. What makes Woodlands unique is its connection to Malaysia via
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the Johor-Singapore Causeway.

Size of the Neighborhood
Woodlands has an estimated population of 254,730 people. It is the
fourth-largest planning area in Singapore in terms of population, and
it has nine subzones—Woodlands East, Woodlands South,
Midview, Woodgrove, Woodlands West, North Coast, Greenwood
Park, Senoko West, and Woodlands Regional Centre. Woodlands is 5.2
square miles large (13.6 square kilometers).

Working Opportunities
These are some examples of job opportunities in the Woodlands area:

• marketing manager;

• IT engineer;

• mechanical engineer;

• nancial analyst.

Opportunities in the nance industry are not as concentrated in

Woodlands as in Orchard, and there are more mid-level jobs in areas
like customer service and human resources.

There are also roles available in science and engineering at

companies like DuPont and Thermo Fisher Scienti c. A quality
assurance specialist at DuPont would earn around 6,500 SGD (4,750
USD). A graduate nancial analyst at Thermo Fisher Scienti c would
earn about 3,500 SGD (2,560 USD).

Cost of Living
Housing in Woodlands consists of condos and Housing Development
Board properties, plus large ve and seven-bedroom houses with
yards and swimming pools.

Rent Prices

Housing in Singapore
To rent in the area, it will cost on average:
Overview
Tap to see all guide sections
• 1,680 SGD (1,230 USD) for a studio apartment or one-
bedroom home;

• 1,900 SGD (1,390 USD) for a two-bedroom home;

• 2,100 (1,540 USD) for a three-bedroom home;

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 • 3,100 (2,270 USD) for a four-bedroom home.

To buy in the area, it will cost on average:

• 500,000 SGD (370,000 USD) for a studio apartment or one-

bedroom home;

• 600,000 SGD (440,000 USD) for a two-bedroom home;

• 610,000 SGD (450,000 USD) for a three-bedroom home;

• 940,000 SGD (688,000 USD) for a four-bedroom home.

A ordable Housing

ValueChampion ranks Woodlands as the second-cheapest place to

rent a property from the Housing Development Board
(HDB). Compared to the Central Singapore, where a four-bedroom
HDB home costs about 2,750 SGD (2,010 USD) a month, the same
property would be 1,750 SGD (1,280 USD) in Woodlands.

Also, according to ValueChampion, Woodlands was the cheapest area

in Singapore to buy a resale HDB property. A four-bedroom resale
HDB property is around 330,000 SGD (242,000 USD) in Woodlands
compared to about 470,000 SGD (344,000 USD) on average.

Cultural Life
Children in the expat community in Woodlands are provided for by
international schools, like the Singapore American School.

It is generally a friendly area with a strong community feel. For

instance, around 6,000 people get together to celebrate and spook on
Halloween in a mass trick or treat outing.

In addition, Woodlands Neighbourhood Centre is just one of

the meeting spots where members of the community can get
together.

Woodlands has a reputation for being home to lots of expats,

especially Americans, so it should be easy for you to integrate. It is not
uncommon for neighbors to get together to socialize, and go on
outings together, such as bike rides and co ee mornings.

Transportation
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If, for example, you want to get to the shopping district of Orchard
Road from Woodlands, it will take about 30 minutes using the MRT.
The same journey will take about 50 minutes using bus services and
you will have to change buses at some point. It only takes about 35
minutes to get from Woodlands to Malaysia using a bus and then
taking the KTM (Keretapi Tanah Melayu) train once in Malaysia.

Holland Village
Holland Village, or Holland V, has a relatively short history, but it has
been home to all sorts of expats since it was established around the
early twentieth century. It was the neighborhood of choice for Dutch
immigrants. British Army personnel and their families also moved into
the area. The name Holland Village was inspired by the English
architect, Hugh Holland, who worked in nearby Tanglin.

Holland Village is in the west of Singapore. It is still popular with

expats and allows quick access to the shopping haven of Orchard
Road, the National University of Singapore, and the Singapore Botanic
Gardens.

Size of the Neighborhood
The village is around 60,000 square meters (645,840 square feet) large
and is set to double in size when the Holland Village Extension is
nished around 2024. The new extension project will add
approximately 59,715 square meters (64276691 square feet) to the
area, including space for o ces, retail, residential, parks
and recreation, bars and restaurants, and mixed-use areas.

Working Opportunities
Some residents of Holland Village work at the National University of
Singapore while the extension of the village allows for new jobs to be
created. Some examples of other jobs available in the area are:

• project manager (technology);

• executive director (research);

• reliability engineer (technology).

Cost of Living
According to Value Champion, Holland Village has some of the most
expensive properties in Singapore, with its most
expensive property priced at 110 million SGD for 52,000 square feet
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(4,831 square meters). However, it is worth noting that this property in
Holland Village was much larger than the most expensive property in
other areas. In terms of cost per square feet, Holland Village was only
the eleventh most expensive area to buy property, at 2,115 SGD (1,550
USD) per square feet.

• A one-bedroom home in Holland Village will cost around 3,000

SGD (2,200 USD) per month. You can get a one-bedroom
apartment for as little as 1,000 SGD (730 USD) and some of the
nicer homes reach around 6,000 SGD (4,400 USD).

• Three-bedroom homes in the area cost around 2,500 SGD for 700

to 1,000 square feet (65 to 93 square meters).

• A ve-bedroom home in the area will cost around 17,000

SGD (12,450 USD) per month.

Cultural Life
Holland Village has a long history of expatriate in uence, with the
Dutch and British expats helping to create exclusive clubs,
like the Hollandse Club, the Swiss Club, the American
Club, and the Tanglin Club.

Co ee Club, Singapore’s rst upmarket co ee shop, opened in the

area in 1991, before the likes of Starbucks and Co ee Bean appeared.

Holland Village has plenty of restaurants, co ee shops, and a hawker

center (food court) to enjoy some leisure time and
shopping. However,if you want a very vibrant night life, you will need
to head elsewhere.

Transportation
You can get to most places via the Holland Village MRT station and,
what’s more, some of the condominiums have shuttle bus services
that will take you to work or school.

From Holland Village it takes:

• ten minutes to drive to Orchard;

• 20 minutes to drive to Woodlands;

• 12 minutes to drive to Novena;

• seven minutes to drive to Singapore Botanic Gardens;

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 • 21 minutes to drive to Singapore Changi Airport.

Tampines
Tampines, in the East Region of Singapore, is not as famous for being
a top expat neighborhood, but it could provide the ideal environment
if you want to feel far away from Western culture. In Tampines, you
will nd that a higher percentage of residents
are local Singaporeans, and the cost of living is lower than
in more well-known expat areas.

Size of the Neighborhood
There are approximately 261,000 people living in Tampines in an area
of 8.1 square miles (20.89 square kilometers).

Working Opportunities
In the East Region, where Tampines is located, manufacturing is the
biggest industry and there are industrial estates in the areas
of Tampines, Changi, Pasir RIs, Paya Lebar, and Bedok. Also, IBM has a
technology park on Tampines Industrial Avenue, creating products for
the Asian market.

Major airlines have their head o ces nearby in Changi,

including Singapore Airlines, Jetstar Asia Airways, SilkAir, Singapore
Airlines Cargo, Scoot, Tigerair, and Valuair. At Changi Business Park,
you will nd o ces of major companies, such as IBM, DBS Bank, and
Standard Chartered.

Speci c job opportunities in Tampines include:

• architectural coordinator;

• executive;

• equipment engineer;

• site engineer;

• operations assistant.

Cost of Living
When compared to popular expat neighborhoods, you can expect a
lower cost of living in Tampines. The most expensive property is
approximately 1,121 SGD (821 USD) per square feet, compared to
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5,800 SGD per square feet for the most expensive property in
Orchard.

• One-bedroom homes are generally around 2,100 SGD (1,500

USD) for 500 square feet (46.5 square meters).

• Three-bedroom homes range from about 2,000 to 4,000

SGD (1,460 and 2,900 USD).

• There a few ve-bedroom homes available in the area, but there

are plenty of four-bedroom apartments, which range in price from
about 2,200 to 9,000 Singapore SGD (1,600 to 6,600 USD). The
most expensive homes tend to have a view of the water.

Cultural Life
Tampines Eco Green park is the perfect place to relax, where you can
enjoy natureand go hikingor bird watching. In the park, there are bird
hides where you can wait out of sight to see perching
and waddler birds.

Tampines has a large Housing Development Board (HDB) estate so

you can expect to see plenty of locals and enjoy a more authentic East
Asian feel.

Transportation
Tampines is regularly talked about as being extremely well-connected
with transportation options, no matter how you get around. In
addition, it is where three major road networks start: the Tampines
Expressway (TPE), East Coast Parkway (ECP), and Pan Island
Expressway (PIE). It is close to Changi Airport, making ying more
convenient. Tampines is served by the Tampines MRT on the East-
West Line, plus Tampines West and Tampines East on the Downtown
Line.

Updated on: April 01, 2020

All about Singapore

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 Our experts have gathered everything you need to know
about the steps for moving to Singapore. Which of
Singapore’s ve regions is the most expensive? How do you
organize a working visa? The InterNations GO! practical guide
on the requirements for moving to Singapore answers all
your questions, letting you sit back and feel prepared for
your relocation.

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