Shophouses and boutique condos are the mainstay of the area, which is also home to popular restaurants such as chicken rice chain Boon Tong Kee.

Laced with famous eateries along the main road, with a sprinkling of some newer developments, the Holt/Mutiara area oozes old-world charm with its low-rise architecture.

Shophouses and boutique condos are the mainstay of the area, which is also home to popular restaurants such as chicken rice chain Boon Tong Kee.

From the fairly new Nathan Place to the older Nathan Ville, most of the apartment blocks in the area are below 24 storeys and offer a wide range of prices.

At the Jervois and Holt end, average home prices top $1,100 per sq ft (psf) and buyers can expect to fork out about $2 million or more for a typical unit.

Units at Valley Park across the road, unusually large for the area with 728 units, have regularly crossed $1,000 psf recently.

But prices drop somewhat further down the road towards Jalan Mutiara. At projects such as Mutiara View and The Aston, average prices range from $650 psf to $1,000 psf, with most units at around $1 million.

In general, prices in the area have risen by 15 to 25 per cent over the last year.

Asking rentals for the area during the first three months of the year averaged $3,500 to $5,000 for a two- or three-bedroom unit, according to property firm Savills Singapore.