*This article was written on 26 May 2023 and does not reflect data and market conditions beyond.
In this series, we will be sharing about Northoaks Executive Condominium (EC) which was one of the first generation of ECs which started in 1999. Northoaks is a 99-year leasehold project with its tenure beginning in 1997 and is located in District 25 within the estate of Admiralty.
The project was developed by Upnorth Development Pte Ltd which is a subsidiary of Hong Leong Holdings Ltd. It was completed in 2000 and consists of 7 residential blocks which are 15-storeys high with a total of 720 dwelling units.
Unit mix here consists of 2 + Study, 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom layouts.
With the majority of the Admiralty estate being made up of HDB apartment, condo projects can be split into 2 main clusters; Northoaks, Woodsvale and Northwave located at the upper region and La Casa, Twin Fountains, Forestville and Bellewoods located at the lower region.
Doing a comparison across our MOAT Analysis of the condo projects in the Admiralty area based on the list below:
- Northoaks (720 units, TOP 2000, 99-year leasehold from 1997)
- Woodsvale (696 units, TOP 2000, 99-year leasehold from 1997)
- Northwave (358 units, TOP 2019(MOP 2024), 99-year leasehold from 2015)
- La Casa (444 units, TOP 2008, 99-year leasehold from 2004)
- Forestville (653 units, TOP 2016, 99-year leasehold from 2012)
- Twin Fountains (418 units, TOP 2016, 99-year leasehold from 2012)
- Bellewoods (561 units, TOP 2017, 99-year leasehold from 2013)
Projects in this region have fared well in the Quantum Effect and Exit Audience factors with a return score of 5 on both.
The strong score on Exit Audience can be attributed to the large number of HDB apartments in the area forming the potential buyer audience from HDB upgraders in future.
With Admiralty being one of the OCR regions where you can still find projects that are under $1,000 PSF, this contributes to the strong scoring as based on the current National Median income, the exit price in the next 3 – 5 years will still be considered palatable for an average income family.
Do read on as we dive further into details specific to Northoaks.
Site Plan Analysis
Northoaks sits on a rectangular land plot with 7 residential blocks 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 and 32 arranged in a circular manner surrounding the main facilities zone which is in the middle of the project. Coming from a more pre-dated era, Northoaks comes equipped with a suite of facilities including 2 tennis courts, a squash court, putting green aside from the other regular ones. The project also features a basement car park which is an evergreen convenience factor to have.
The residential blocks have a slight oval shape which means that the dwelling units have the whole array of facing orientation.
The unit mix of Northoaks is made up of 2 + study, 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom layout types.
As Northoaks was completed before the TDSR measures were implemented, you can see that the unit sizes here are huge and are almost a 1-bedroom level up if compared with the modern day floor plans. Taking the 2 + Study bedroom type as an example, the 1,000 – 1,100 sqft is even bigger than some of the 3 bedroom types and equivalent to the 3 bedroom premium layout in the new launch projects of the current day.
This also shows how the floor plan layouts have evolved through the years with the major change from 2013 onwards.
Location Analysis
Northoaks is located within District 25 in the Admiralty region at the intersection of the major roads Gambas Avenue and Woodlands Avenue 7.
With the majority of the residential land space within Admiralty being made up of HDB clusters, Northoaks is 1 out of the 7 only condo projects in the vicinity.
In terms of connectivity to public transportation, residents have a side gate access to the bus stop along Woodlands Avenue 7 which will reach Admiralty MRT(NS10) in just 2 stops.
This is where you will find Kampung Admiralty which hosts a large hawker centre for your hawker fare needs.
The current commuting time to town or the CBD areas via the North-South MRT network would take approximately 1 hour or so. Good news here is that once the North-South Corridor is completed, it is targeted to reduce commuting time via bus to the central areas by a good 10 – 15 minutes and there’s also talks of implementing an express bus service to and fro central regions.
Woodlands MRT (NS9) is just 1 stop away which will be the future interchange with the Woodlands Thomson-East Coast Line (TE2) station.
Drivers will also benefit from the North-South Expressway Viaduct which will stretch along Gambas Avenue that is located right outside Northoaks.
In the meantime, the entry point to Seletar Expressway(SLE) is a short 7-minute drive away from the development that will connect you to CTE or BKE which will then lead to the rest of the expressway network.
Nearby amenities can be found across the road at 785 Woodlands Pasture II, shops would include a Sheng Siong Supermarket for your grocery, a coffee shop and other F&B options.
Retail malls can be found at Woodlands MRT (Causeway Point), Sembawang MRT(Sun Plaza), Canberra MRT(Canberra Plaza) which boasts more retail options, F&B outlets and supermarkets and all your essential services establishments.
Recreational activities and a day out with the family can be easily spent at the nearby parks at Woodlands Crescent Park and Greenwood Sanctuary. The PCN along Woodlands Avenue 12 can also lead you to Ulu Sembawang PCN, good for a day of trekking along Upper Seletar Reservoir.
When Bukit Canberra is fully operational, one can expect a hub of multiple activities here that includes an indoor sports hall with flexible configurations to accommodate badminton courts, basketball courts and volleyball courts, Olympic size swimming pool and the largest ActiveSG gym in Singapore.
On top of activity zones, the building will play host to a 800-seat hawker centre and also healthcare facilities like a polyclinic and also a senior care centre to cater for the ageing population in this region of Singapore.
The Former Admiralty House next door will also be converted into a Public Library, turning Bukit Canberra into a major hub for communal activities in the North.
There are 3 Primary Schools that are within a 1km radius of Northoaks:
- Admiralty Primary School
- Greenwood Primary School
- Riverside Primary school
If we were to expand to 1 – 2km radius, that would include another additional 9 primary schools. This signals that the neighbourhood is a more family orientated zone with plans and infrastructure already in place to cater for families with school going children and even couples who may wish to start their family planning journey.
Price Environment
Looking at price movement in Northoaks, we can see from the graph above that the overall price growth since its launch has grown by 121% with the current quarter pushing past the $800 PSF price point which is at the all time highest.
There have been a total of 876 resale transactions to date.
Filtering down to the latest transactions within the last 24 months, recent resale transaction prices are from $519 – $878 PSF with an average of $736 PSF which is currently the lowest average PSF transacted price compared against the 6 other condo projects in the vicinity.
Looking at the recently MOP project Bellewoods in 2022 already transacting at an average $1,107 PSF, there is still a significant disparity in the PSF pricing which might make sense for buyers who do not mind the trade off for a more dated development with a larger unit size.
Diving into the details of our PLB MOAT Analysis scoring, Northoaks returns with a 66% score.
The top contributing factors that are awarded a score of 5 come from firstly from:
- Quantum Effect where between 80%-100% of the quantum prices transacted fall within a buyers’ maximum loan capacity based on the latest national median income.
- Exit Audience potential where there have been more than 2,000 supply of new HDB units in the past 10 years. This engages the future exit potential where a larger pool of buyer audience would come from the HDB upgrader segmented attributed to the multiple BTO projects that have launched in the area of Fernvale and Sengkang.
If we were to compare the price growth with the 2 nearest projects; Woodsvale which was completed in the same year as Northoaks and Northwave which will only MOP in September 2024, we can see that the price behaviour of Northoaks and Woodsvale are fairly similar in terms of growth.
Both of these projects still have a gap in terms of PSF pricing as compared to Northwave which is nearing the $1,200 PSF mark based on some of the sub-sale transactions that have taken place.
Floor Plan Layouts
From the above unit distribution we can infer that the project is catered more towards family demographics with majority of the layout type belonging to the 3 bedroom configuration.
The larger unit sizes would belong to the Penthouse layout types.
2 Bedroom + Study
There are 2 different layout types available for the 2 bedroom + Study configuration.
The 1,054 sqft layout is for the regular units while the 1,172 sqft layout would belong to the ground floor patio units.
Key differences seen here in comparison is that the regular layout has only 1 small open terrace space for outdoor area while the patio units come with 2 separate PES zones with one including a turf area as well.
The kitchen zone for the regular layout features a double galley design while the patio unit has a slightly wider kitchen area with an L-shape counter top design.
Both units come with some angular shapes at parts of the unit and the bed room sizes appear similar based on the floor plan drawing.
3 Bedroom
There are a total of 14 different layout plans for the 3 bedroom configuration. They can be categorised into 3 main categories:
- 1,200 sqft ~ : regular layout type
- 1,400 sqft ~ 1,600 sqft : ground floor patio layout type
- 1,700 sqft ~ : Penthouse layout type
In addition to the additional bedroom, the 3 bedroom layouts all come with an additional utility room and WC in the kitchen zone which will usually match the requirements of families who have a live-in helper and would require a resting zone for them to retreat to.
The kitchen configuration for the Penthouse unit type is differentiated by its L-shape counter top design from the other two which are a double galley design.
Some of the regular layout types will have an angular section in one of the common bedrooms which would not be feasible to accommodate up to a queen size bed.
The Penthouse layout will also have a Junior master bedroom that comes with an additional ensuite bathroom.
4 Bedroom
Even though there are two 4 bedroom layout types, you will see that the difference is challenging to spot as the size difference is almost negligible between the two at just 10 sqft.
The only difference in the layout is just the additional planter box area at bedroom 2 for the bigger unit. Other than that the layout is pretty much the same, with one of the common bedrooms 3 having an angular shape and which will be challenging if a queen size bed is required.
Upcoming Developments
Other than the North-South Corridor development that will take place in the northern region, we do see some other land plots being rezoned for future development as well.
The main cluster would be an education zone along Woodlands Avenue 12 which will be right beside Northwaves and also a commercial and business park zone that will be formed around the new Woodlands North MRT(TE1) station.
Conclusion
Being situated in a neighbourhood that is clustered with numerous HDB clusters makes for a good exit strategy where buyers would most likely come from the HDB upgraders segment.
With the current PSF pricing still below the $1,000 PSF price range, Northoaks will still retain its attractiveness being the few remaining projects in the OCR which still retain a 3-digit PSF price mark.
Price disparity gap compared to the newer projects in the vicinity is still in a good range to have a clear distinction for buyers when they are making their comparisons for projects in this region.
Along with a good number of educational institutes, amenities and retail malls that are all within convenient access from Northoaks, this will help ensure its footing on the buyers radar for projects in the North.
The team has had the privilege to market and sell two of such units in the project so far, you can have a look at the home tour video via the links below for a peek into the physical space of the units:
As always, do reach out to the team here and if you have any questions or like to have a further discussion with our consultants on your property plans.
