A spatial difference-in-difference approach to study the impact of Punggol Digital District hub on property values

• Main Authors: Fan, Guan Fung, Lim, Jing Hao, Tan, Sheena
• Other Authors: Sng Hui Ying
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Social sciences::Economic theory
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/166296
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In recent years, Singapore has announced multiple large-scale development plans, such as the Punggol Digital District (PDD), Woodlands Regional Centre, and the Jurong Lake District. These demarcated districts aim to create new job opportunities and residential buildings while enabling individuals to work close to their homes, reflecting Singapore’s development from a monocentric city into a polycentric city. While many studies in Singapore model housing prices, there remains a research gap on how decentralisation affects the prices of the surrounding housing properties. In particular, this paper seeks to address how the announcement of PDD would affect both the resale prices of the HDB and private non-landed apartments in the vicinity. Subsequently, we analyse the possible difference between the impact of PDD on private and public housing so that the government can adopt differentiated cooling measures to ensure that the housing market prices remain stable and sustainable. The result from our spatial difference-in-difference model suggests that the announcement of the PDD has a significant and positive impact on the surrounding housing prices. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that private properties appreciate more than HDB flats. This aligns with the literature, where the attractiveness and convenience of living near such hubs (PDD) can contribute to housing value appreciation and that policymakers should adopt differentiated cooling measures to ensure the stability of the housing market.