Terra Hill's developer just sold a unit below $2,100 psf

A 1,539 sq ft four-bedroom unit at Terra Hill sold for $3.22 million on 18 August, which works out to $2,093 psf. That is the lowest per-square-foot price recorded at the freehold Pasir Panjang project since it launched in February 2023, and the first below $2,100 psf. The seller was the developer.

The fifth-floor unit was sold by Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments, the joint-venture developers of the 270-unit project, according to caveats lodged with URA. The previous floor was $2,233 psf, set at launch in February 2023 when an 840 sq ft two-bedder went for $1.88 million. Over that launch weekend the developers sold 38% of the project at an average of around $2,650 psf.

Three and a half years later, caveats as at 1 September show 54 units still unsold. Temporary occupation permit is expected in 2028.

Why a low psf is not the same as a cheap unit

Two things pull a per-square-foot price down, and both apply here. Larger units almost always carry a lower psf than small ones in the same project, because the price of a home does not scale in a straight line with floor area. A fifth floor in a low-rise development also sits at the bottom of the price stack. So a four-bedder on a low floor was always going to be the unit that set a new floor, if one was going to be set.

The quantum tells the other half of the story. At $3.22 million, this was not a bargain-bin purchase. It was a big family unit bought from a developer who, with a fifth of the project still in hand and a completion date approaching, has room to price individual units to move.

The August four-bedder sold about 21% below the launch-weekend average on a per-square-foot basis. Source: URA caveat data, as reported; developers’ launch statement. Chart: HomeAsset.

Terra Hill sits at the top of Yew Siang Road, off Pasir Panjang Road in District 5. Its two- to five-bedroom units run from 624 to 2,142 sq ft, plus six five-bedroom duplex penthouses of 3,035 sq ft. The project is freehold, which remains its main point of difference from most newer launches nearby.

The same week, older condos set highs

In the same week of 18 to 25 August, the only new psf lows among private non-landed projects came from Terra Hill, while two older freehold and 999-year developments set new highs. A 1,313 sq ft three-bedder at Goldenhill Park Condominium in District 20, completed in 2004, sold for $3.5 million or $2,665 psf, beating a record set only three weeks earlier. At Aspen Heights on River Valley Road, completed in 1998, a 1,582 sq ft three-bedder went for $4.1 million or $2,591 psf, a new high for the 999-year leasehold project.

Put those side by side and the picture is specific rather than general. Buyers are still paying record prices for well-located resale units they can move into now. A developer sitting on unsold stock at a project that will not complete until 2028 is pricing to clear. One is a market signal. The other is a stock signal.

What this means for you

• Looking at Terra Hill’s remaining units? The developer has shown it will price larger, lower-floor units well below the launch average. Compare any offer against the exact stack and floor, not against the headline psf of the smallest units, and ask what else is unsold in the same block.
• Weighing a big unit on quantum: a $3.22 million purchase at a 55% total debt servicing ratio (the cap on all monthly debt repayments as a share of gross income) needs a substantial household income regardless of the psf. Run the loan numbers before the psf comparison, not after.
• Buying under construction: you pay by stages under the progressive payment scheme and wait until 2028 to move in. If you need a home before then, the resale records in the same week show what that immediacy currently costs.
• Holding a unit at Terra Hill already? One developer sale at $2,093 psf does not reset the value of a high-floor two-bedder. It does mean any resale you attempt before completion competes with the developer’s own remaining stock.