Terra Hill

Terra Hill condominium is set to be the first significant new launch private residential project after Chinese New Year.

Now that the holidays and celebrations are over, this development will likely set the tone for Singapore’s real estate market in the first half of 2023.

In the last few years, most of Hoi Hup-Sunway Developments’ private residential projects have been very well received.

Some of them are Sophia Hills, Hundred Palms Residences (executive condominium), and Kovan Regency.

When I wrote this post, Terra Hill had just had its first preview weekend, and about 5,000 people went to its showflat.

That’s 70 per cent more than what Sceneca Residence was able to do earlier in January 2023.

This condo has everything?

In Singapore, there hasn’t been a full-fledged freehold condo developed in a while and no new freehold projects were launched for sale in Pasir Panjang over the last 8 years.

In addition, this project is located just a mere 5-minute walk from Pasir Panjang MRT station.

And what really caught my attention is that this project has been called a high-end and luxury development by both the developer and the media.

Freehold. Close to an MRT station. High-end. Luxury.

It must be a hit and a good deal that people who want to buy a property shouldn’t miss, right?

Before I saw the words “high-end” and “luxury,” honestly, I wasn’t too excited to talk about the Terra Hill condo.

I agree that everyone has their own ideas about what these two words mean.

But as a real estate agent who has worked for a long time and seen a lot of homes, I can’t help but give this new launch the attention it deserves.

Even though everything looks good on paper, I often want to get into the specifics of a project to get a better idea of how it will turn out.

My simple analytical approach

I’ll do something a little different in this real estate post than I did in the last one.

For Terra Hill’s details, or “selling points,” I’ll just briefly go over them. As for the rest, I’ll let the other realtors tell you about most of them.

Anyway, this kind of information is often easy to find on the Internet. Hence, I’d prefer to classify these as details or things you SHOULD know.

On the other side, I’ll concentrate on what you NEED to know.

If you’re also interested in this, you need to keep reading.

What you should know about Terra Hill condominium

Terra Hill is located at the top of Yew Siang Road, in a quiet residential area.

It is only 350 metres, or a 5-minute walk, from the Pasir Panjang MRT Station that is along the Circle Line.

It is a low-density project with only 270 residential units spread across 9 five-storey blocks in total.

This freehold site has a rather large land area of 208,445 square feet, with a plot ratio of 1.4.

Project Name	Terra Hill
Address	Yew Siang Road
Type	Residential
Developer	Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments Ltd
Tenure	Freehold
Site area	~208,445 sq ft
Total number of units	270
Total number of parking lots	270 (excluding 4 accessible parking lots)
Number of blocks	9 blocks
Number of storey	5-storey with attic
Expected TOP date	3rd quarter of 2026

Based on URA’s guideline on Gross Plot Ratio & Building Height, the development’s floor level is capped at 5 storeys due to its plot ratio.

However, since the project is not located within the Central Area, the average size of the units is allowed to be more than 100 sqm.

Here’s a little bit of the history of the site.

Terra Hill is being built on the site of the former Flynn Park condo, which had 72 units and was completed back in 1986.

In September 2021, developers Hoi Hup and Sunway acquired the whole site for $371 million via a collective sale.

How Terra Hill is being planned out?

Due to its hilly topography, Terra Hill offers 2 distinct price points to satisfy a variety of homebuyers and investors.

The Prestige Collection, comprised of 3 similar blocks, totals just 30 units and sits atop the property; The Signature Collection consists of the remaining six residential blocks and 240 units.

A little bit more about the Prestige Collection.

As mentioned earlier, it has a total of 30 units and 24 of which are 4-bedroom unit types that measure 1,894 square feet.

The remaining 6 units are 5-bedroom duplex penthouses (3,035 square feet each) with double-volume ceilings.

In addition, the Prestige Collection units will have unobstructed views of the surroundings.

The 4-bedders will have living rooms that are 6 metres wide, which is the same width as an intermediate terraced house.

On the other hand, the living rooms in the 5-bedroom duplex penthouses have a 9-metre frontage.

The interior specifications and provisions

As befits a high-end building, each unit in the Prestige Collection will have a private lift lobby, master and junior master bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, full marble floors with 80 metres x 80 metres tiles, and a lot of storage space.

Swiss brand V-Zug makes high-end kitchen appliances that are part of The Prestige Collection.

Units will also have 2 refrigerators: a V-Zug integrated refrigerator in the dry kitchen and a Samsung refrigerator in the wet kitchen.

Furthermore, the high-end European brands Gessi and Laufen are used for the bathroom fixtures and sanitaryware in the units.

Do note that the Signature Collection’s 5-bedroom duplex penthouses will have the same high-end finishes and swanky fixtures as the luxury penthouses in the Prestige Collection.

As for the remaining unit types under the Signature Collection, all of the kitchen appliances will be made by the French company De Dietrich.

Gessi and Laufen are also brands of bathroom fixtures and toiletries being provided.

In the living room of each Terra Hill unit, there will be a ceiling fan, and the roofs of the buildings will have solar panels.

Because of these efforts, Terra Hill is one of the first private housing developments in Singapore to receive the Building Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Platinum and Super Low Energy rating, which is the highest rating given by BCA.

Unit types available

Here’s a quick breakdown of the unit types available at Terra Hill.

The floor plan for each unit type is also provided.

The Signature Collection

• 2-Bedroom (624 – 840 sq ft)
• 2-Bedroom + Study (807 sq ft)
• 3-Bedroom (904 – 1,335 sq ft)
• 4-Bedroom (1,302 – 1,862 sq ft)
• 5-Bedroom (2,120 – 2,164 sq ft)

The Prestige Collection

• 4-Bedroom (1,894 sq ft)
• 5-Bedroom (3,035 sq ft)

Terra Hill Floor Plans

Here’s what you NEED to know about Terra Hill condo

First, let’s talk about how much it will cost.

I think that’s what most people who want to buy a home or invest will worry about.

The Flynn Park building in Pasir Panjang, which is now the Terra Hill condo, was sold in a collective sale for $371 million in September 2021.

The land rate works out to be about $1,318 per square foot per year, which includes a 7 percent bonus for balcony spaces.

So, according to SquareFoot Research’s calculations, the developer’s breakeven selling price would be $2,079 psf.

Units at Terra Hill were officially put on the market on February 26, 2023, and sold for between $2,300 psf and $2,700 psf.

The prices vary based on the size of the units and which collection they belong to.

Here’s a quick price guide for Terra Hill (subject to changes).

Bedroom Type	Starting Price	PSF$
Signature Collection
2-Bedroom	$1.861 million	$2,745
2-Bedroom PH	$1.957 million	$2,330
2-Bedroom + Study	$2.103 million	$2,606
3-Bedroom	$2.292 million	$2,535
4-Bedroom	$3.451 million	$2,628
Prestige Collection
4-Bedroom	$5.261 million	$2,778
5-Bedroom Penthouse	$8.626 million	$2,842

There are other better options, at least for now

As you can see from the above table, the prices for most types of units are between $2,535 psf and $2,745 psf right now.

In all honesty, I do think it’s a bit high, and even as a realtor, I find it hard to swallow.

Let me do a quick market analysis to show you why this is actually a no-brainer.

Look at this table, and you’ll see what I mean right away.

Project Name	Tenure	TOP	Location	Nearest MRT	Average PSF
RoyalGreen	Freehold	2022	Bukit Timah	Sixth Avenue	$2600 – $2919
Hyll on Holland	Freehold	2025	Farrer Road	Farrer	$2804 – $3090
Leedon Green	Freehold	2024	Farrer Road	Farrer	$2338 – $3150

As much as I want to sell a property to get some sales, I wouldn’t suggest that any of my clients or friends buy a unit at Terra Hill at this price.

Or, at least, not right now when other better options exist.

At almost the same price, you can buy a freehold property in a well-established prime district in Singapore.

After all, telling your friends and relatives that you own property in Bukit Timah rather than Pasir Panjang sounds much better.

So, unless you have a very important reason to stay in the Pasir Panjang area. If not, I wouldn’t be interested.

Avoid these layouts, unless you hate cooking

Homebuyers and investors often don’t pay attention to the unit layouts.

This usually happens when they are so captivated by the beautiful showflat and so interested in the realtor’s beautiful presentation.

Even though most of the layouts at Terra Hill are pretty good and useful, I would strongly advise you to avoid these few layouts.

• 2-Bedroom (Type C3) (Type C3)
• 3-Bedroom (Type C1 and C2) (Type C1 and C2)

There’s a simple reason for it.

There are no windows in the back of the kitchen or in the kitchen itself.

So, not only will the kitchen be dark, but it won’t have much airflow either.

It’s true that you can easily add more lights to make the area brighter. But if you or your future tenant loves to cook, it would leave a smell in the kitchen after a while.

It will be hard to get rid of that over a period of time.

I don’t know if this bothers you, but it does bother me, and I think it bothers most people who buy homes.

Final Word

Despite Terra Hill condominium being a freehold residential project that is near an MRT station, I still feel that the price point is rather steep at this point.

Considering the current market conditions, I seriously don’t think it’s expensive or over-priced.

It’s just that there are other much better options right now, especially in areas such as Bukit Timah, Newton or even Holland area.

Many other realtors would be boasting its strong potential by leveraging on the development of the Greater Southern Waterfront.

But honestly, it has come to a stage where this “plus point” has been overly abused.

Many projects nearby have been using this as a selling point since 2012! That’s more than 10 years ago.

Just do a quick search on projects launched since then, especially those in the Shenton, Marina Bay, and Pasir Panjang precincts.

Not many have been very profitable, and there were also losses.

If you need such data for a comprehensive analysis, you can always reach out to me using the contact form below or drop me WhatsApp message.

It’s always easy to say that you can buy into Terra Hill at $2,600 psf and sell at $3,000 psf in future.

But I could also say the same when you can buy something else at $2,000 psf and sell at $2,400 psf.

It uses lesser capital and possibly makes the same amount of profit (within a shorter time period too). This would also mean lesser risk for you from an investment perspective.

Overall, I still think Terra Hill is a good product and a worthy buy – just not in today’s market.

 

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Average "Luxury"

• Location
• Transport Links
• Amenities
• Interior
• Value