Dunearn House: The Biggest Opportunity Or Biggest Trap In Bukit Timah?

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]The new launch that you have not been waiting for is finally here. Let's talk about this today.

[00:00:05]Guys, today we're going to talk about the upcoming project at Dan House located along Dian Road District 11 right beside the upcoming Turf City transformation area which is also the new upcoming Cross Island Line TD MR station. And honestly, this is interesting for many reasons because this is actually the first non-landed residential project inside the new turf city prickin in the last 20 30 33 years in more than 33 years. And I always tell people this ever since I was in secondary school. People say that the turf club grand stand will become HTV flats and it took us a good 20 over years since then to for it to happen. So the big question today becomes are the buyers entering early into the bookima upcoming transformation or are they just paying a premium for a project that has a lot of uncertainty because delay transformation might not happen and transformation might not really bring such a big growth in terms of capital as well because while the location sounds very attractive there are also some concerns that buyers will have and I'm speaking from my personal experience because that one is my home ground I live just maybe about 2 to 3 km away and grandstand used to be my favorite hangout with my wife because parking is free and today I'm going to give you an unbiased perspective from a good and bad standpoint and we're going to break this down properly from a rational perspective. So what we're going to cover today will be number one a rapid fire project overview of Dion House.

[00:01:34]Next why some buyers won't buy Dion House followed by a detailed price matrix and analysis based on the cost.

[00:01:41]And last but not least, if the above reasons have not put you off enough, I'll give you three reasons why buyers may still consider buying Din House. And if this is not the first video of mine that you are watching, can you consider subscribing to this channel because it just encourages me to do more quality content like this plus it helps me a great deal. Thank you so much. 11. Now coming to the project overview. The location is at district 11 under the Swiss Club GCB area which is the CCR phrases property CSC land and security house JV 380 units total land size about 145,000 99 year leaseole total five blocks two 19story buildings and three 10story buildings architect is on and on and the location to the MR station which is the most important thing for most people these days when COE is so expensive is 4 minutes walk to 6th Avenue MR station. Now in terms of school within 1 kilometer, it should have better this girl school because based on our own estimation, the 1 km radius actually cuts across one of the blocks. And don't quote me for that.

[00:02:43]Official information will only be available with using the government website. Within 1 to 2 km, you have Nanyang Primary School, Pong Institution, National Junior College, Refers Girls Primary School, and Nanyang High School. And once you combine the educational belt with MRT access with greenery facing and high-end landed property surrounding the buyer pool actually becomes quite interesting. I would call them the affluent pool. But however with this kind of affluent buyer profile being around there are certain factors of this upcoming new launch which they may not be interested in. We should be talking about a topic for later. Next the lifestyle and environment. Another thing I love around this area and the reason why I'm staying around this area is because this is very different from normal developments because you have access to greenery and the central water catchment. And to me that is a kind of lifestyle that I would pay a premium to be around. Uh but hold your horses before you think that this video is telling you to buy only. Um I'm not going to say that because this is just my personal preference. I'll give you a more deep dive into what my on the ground observations are like because many people when they come to my house they think that my house is a bit ulu and far in. So yeah again that is a topic for later. So now so much about the project information if this is not the first video that you're watching and you need advice about your plans ahead because after watching so many project videos right you realize that actually it's not so much about which product to buy it's more of what you intend to achieve for the next 5 to 10 years. I also provide consultation to clients because me myself I started off as a HD upgrader in year 2014 until 11 years later today we actually own a 8 figureure residential portfolio in Singapore. So if you wish to get my consult about what you should be doing next my number feel free to reach out to me and coming to the three reasons why people will not buy Dian house. This is a tricky one. Let's talk about the uncomfortable truth and at the same time risking my job basically. Why? Because if I say the wrong things I may get fired. It is what it is because there are real concerns that buyers are worried about in today's market. And the reason number one, this area feels too quiet. And I'm not going to deny and I'm not going to lie, me staying in sixth Avenue area, the irony is that when I want to go eat and all these things, other than going to one Holland village, we are quite used to going to Upper Bugitima and even Jurong East. If not, if you are feeling rich, we can go to Orchard Road as well. There's not really a lot of things happening. Which comes to my first reason. This area feels super quiet. The environment still lacks vibrancy. Commercial activities is still limited. Especially now we don't have the grand stand to go to anymore. And the third city feels like a very ulu area that you also don't know whether eventually it will copy or not.

[00:05:23]Especially when you compare it with places like Beauty World. You have shophouses there. You have shopping malls there. You have integrated transport hubs and the upcoming CC. This area really feels like it's a quite a sleepy town. And psychologically buyers usually feel more comfortable when the area already feels fully matured. So naturally this becomes the biggest debate surrounding Dian house itself.

[00:05:45]Now reason number two the upside is uncertain. Many buyers will say Marcus transformation stories always sound them good on paper but what if the transformation takes longer than expected? And also if a bookim is really so good, why isn't Fourth Avenue residences seeing like massive amounts of profit after even completing for about 3 to four years by now? And honestly, that is a fair concern because when buyers enter transformations early, the environment usually don't look that complete yet. And if you're trying to exit at that point, you may be facing some strain in terms of demand as well.

[00:06:21]Now, reason number three, and this is quite obvious, 99 yearly. So in the CCR is cannot buy one. Why? Because the old money, the rich people only buy freehole. Uh I wouldn't say that you are wrong because I still know a lot of CCR buyers that only want freehole. In fact, no matter what region, there are still people that want freehole. And I'm not laughing at you because in myself, the land property that I bought is also a freehole property. Naturally, buyers will ask if I buy into a CCR 99ear leaseole, will it be difficult to sell in future? And you're not wrong to say that because many of the new launch buyers these days the parents do provide a bit of support. And if let's say your father and mother is staying in the freehole GCB and they have a freehole landed or free condo along the bugima or the orchard belt naturally if the son or daughter wants to buy a 99-year leaseole because we all freehole family very concerned. Now let's talk about price matrix. Quick disclaimer official prices has not been released yet at this point of recording. These are purely based on estimated pricing using the land cost because uh based on estimation the land cost is similar to the likes of river modern. So we are using river modern kind of benchmark pricing as a gauge for us to estimate the pricing of dining house. So for those people that you want to know whether can you afford to buy or not, I think this is something for you to use as a rough estimate and using river modern kind of average PSF. Let's say $3,200 per square foot because this is not a highrise building. Now let's break down the unit types individually.

[00:07:54]Starting from the two-bedroom units, the estimated size using 5 to7 ft² uh floor plan. It the estimated average range of $3,200 per square foot using River Mon as mentioned earlier on. buyers should be realistically looking at about $1.69 million. And based on the wider price range here, prices could range from approximately 1.48ish million up to about $1.85 plus million. Now recently I've seen seeing a uptick in the two bedroomedroom plus study unit type because the sizes of families has been shrinking and threebedroom versus the two plus study these days could be as high as about 3 to 400,000 because the average PSF has already grown and this unit based on paper over here sits at around 680 plus square ft which gives buyers a sense of flexibility for own stay. If let's say you're applying for the second kit and you need a nursery, the study could be a good makeshift nursery or something that your something that can be used as a guest room/ study as well. And this category actually makes up quite a large portion of this project with about 176 units or roughly 46% of the entire development. I'm talking about the two bedrooms and the two plus study and the two plus study which I just said right at about $3,200 per square foot. Buyers should be looking at about 2.2 $2 million kind of ranging and the estimated price range over here will be between $1.9 million to up to $2.4 million depending on the stack facing and floor level because this development also have road noise exposure. So I believe that those lower PSF unit should be the ones that are facing the main road itself. Next we'll move into the three-bedroom category which I think will be the most overs subscribed one in most cases. The standard threebedroom starts from about 872 square ft at about $3,200 per square foot. We should be looking at a average price range of about $2.7 million. And the estimated price ranges from 2.4 to up to $3.1 million for the 872 ft². And I'm not too sure, but in the Bukitima area, 872 ft² most likely will be a 3bedroom compact, maybe with a study without a stall. I don't know. This is just I'm trying to be a little bit creative. But there's another one which is the three bedroomedroom plus study unit sizes goes up to 1,000 and child square. So the 3bedroom all in all commands about 25% of the entire development with 96 unit at about $3,200 per square foot. Buyers may be looking at about 3.2 to up to $3.5 million. Now moving into the larger family layouts which will be the very popular ones in Bukitima area. The four bedrooms are estimated to be about $1184 ft² at the average of $3,200 per square foot estimated. The launch price should be around $3.7 million. So the price range will be between 3.3 to $4.1 million. And finally, the largest format in the project, the richest neighbor in the block. They're estimated at average of $3,200 per square foot predicted. Buyers will be looking at about $4.42 or $2 million on average for the four biders and estimated price range will be between $3.8 million to $4.8 million and interestingly Dian house actually has more four biders than three biders and I believe that developers may assume that the four biders has higher demand or lesser supply within the bookima area as well. Now before I give you the three reasons why people will buy the buy dion house I will first like to debunk the myths of the earlier all the area is too quiet there's no upside yet and 99 yearly so in CCR cannot make money first the area is too quiet some buyers actually prefer this just like myself actually if you ask me I used to grow up in HDB area whenever I go down it's just a very busy area and if you ask me whether will I still want to move back that kind of area maybe yes if I don't drive then that would be something that is useful. However, if I'm driving like currently if I have the opportunity I don't mind taking a 5 minutes drive to different areas but when I get back home I avoid all the hustle and bustle. So this is a very different kind of mindset. I would think that if you were to take it in a more positive light we are talking about a more exclusive and also serene environment and yet you still get access to the MRT station and some shops downstairs. Myth number two, there's no upside yet. Reality, this is true. Why? Because there hasn't been any major transformation in the Bukidima other than beauty world itself, which is everything is still not completed yet.

[00:12:26]And this is the first private residential project within the third city transformation area and historically first projects in transformation zones which are big transformation zones have performed well if the master plan actually succeeds. So when the future land costs are moving upwards right it also gives us a better sensing that this development will look cheap in 3 years time. Now thirdly 99 yearly so don't make sense or cannot make money. The reality is that many 99 yearly soul properties in the CCR didn't really perform very well but today the buyers are a little bit different from the last 5 to 10 years and I'm talking about people who are in their 50s to 60s. They always think that freehole is something of prestige. But a lot of buyers today focus on entry price, the lifestyle, MRT connectivity, good schools positioning, future exit demand and not purely on tenure alone.

[00:13:21]Moreover, many of the freehole properties don't just come with a premium. It comes with a lot of sunk cost for renovation and upgrading as well. So as a buyer today buying into the condo with the down payment itself already like what we say bank account no money still need to take out 200,000 to renovate the house and spend months thinking of how to design and build the place. So I'm not saying that freehole is not good because I too own freehole and leaseole properties. I'm just saying that freehole status is not everything.

[00:13:52]End of the day people still look at numbers. Now speaking of all the myths that I've actually debunked, right? Let me know in the comments. Do you agree with me or not? And if you don't agree with me on this because you purely just don't want to buy Dian house, right? I also have a lot of other videos that you can go check out which talks about my own personal journey, the mistakes I've made, the framework I've used, and also other project reviews as well that may become useful for you. And if you just want somebody to guide you through your buying process, uh especially somebody who has done it before, feel free to reach out to me. I'm also a property agent as well and I help clients upgrade. In fact, uh, in April, I actually helped four of my clients buy Tinga Garden residences, secure their choice units, and also help another of my clients bought a four bedroomedroom private leaf in the lab as well. And I'll take this opportunity to thank you all for the support. And with that, let's go on to the three reasons why people will still buy tin house. And we'll be using this framework to actually make a decision, which I call the PMFX. P for price, M for mass appeal, FX is for future demand and supply. This helps buyers assess projects using a more structured approach instead of relying purely on what people tell you or I call emotion.

[00:15:04]P stand for price. How we assess price support. Whenever we talk about price support, I usually analyze it using three timelines. The past, the present and the future. First, the past. We look at the resale developments of similar age and not the very old ones. Huh. To understand the price support levels. In other words, if the market softened, how resilient will the pricing be? Why?

[00:15:26]Because I don't think that 4 years down the road when Dian House DP, you'll be selling cheaper than developments which are already 10 years old within the same prein. Next, the present market. This means comparing Dian House with the current new launch that the buyers can choose from today because if there's stronger value and lower pricing in the market right now within the same area, naturally buyers will gravitate towards them. And finally the future we study upcoming launches and land cost to estimate where the next benchmark might be because if future launches are going to come in at a higher price this give us an idea of what will be the price ceiling. That means how much more upside potential we have. So by looking at the past, present and the future we can then assess whether this project has reasonable price support based on surrounding benchmarks. So using Fourth Avenue residences as a price benchmark, a 3-bedroom, 947 ft² recently traded above $2,850 per square foot. The average PSF of this development is 2,494 PSF. And I did a check over here. And by now some people tell me, Marcus, why you using $2,850 per square foot as the pricing where the average price is 2,494?

[00:16:40]The reason why is very simple because 2494 includes all unit types include the one bit rooms as well and with a 2 years kind of price window right we are also using lower prices of 2 years ago to average down the PSF of the recent transaction but if you ask me a 2007 to 2008 PSF is there abouts the range of three ber unit type so it really depends on what you are buying and to add another five to 6% for GFA harmonization we are talking about a price range of around $27 to $2,800 per square foot for fourth Avenue residences. Now coming to the present, we have AMBT, which is a good comparison. Two MRT station away in the beauty world. The three biders most recent transacted at $2,828 per square foot plus another 5% which is about $140 PSF. We are talking about $3,000 per square foot after you harmonize discount pricing. So earlier on we were using $3,200 per square foot. For a slightly better location and also within 1 kilometers to Medadines school falling under the CCR area, I wouldn't think that $3,200 psf will be considered overpriced. And when it comes to the future land pricing, right, I'm going to keep this short. Right beside Wing Thai has already bought a land plot at $1,625 per square foot, which is about $200 over dollars per square foot higher.

[00:18:03]This will actually form the new price ceiling. Why? Because you know developers when they buy higher they will have to sell higher and after everything is sold in Dian house the only other options that buyers will have if they want to be around this boogieima area will be the one that is about $200 per square foot higher and this is the pattern that has repeated years and years and over many many years is already a standard trend. So if you understand the trend, you know that entering into Dian house today, you most likely will see some increase in your valuation when wingai launches the Dian road plot two. And now coming to the mass appeal and the transformation story, I'll leave it to you watching other videos. Why? Because I think this is something that is repeated over and over. And I think sometimes transformation stories are actually often overused and used for AdSense which I do from AdSense. And by now if you ask me whether this development is for everyone. I think it really depends on your exit window and also your purpose at this point. So if you wish to get my consult on this feel free to reach out to me. And as usual like comment, subscribe, turn on notification bell and go check out my other videos if you want to know who this guy is. Uh I wouldn't want to waste your time. Thanks for watching until the end. And I'll see you at next week's video. But wait, if you are thinking of going down to the D house, feel free to reach out to me as well. Bye.

[00:19:38]Hey, hey, hey.