In this article, we will be visiting one of the newer Executive Condominium (EC) that has fulfilled its Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) and hit the resale market in May of 2022, The Terrace.
The Terrace is located within the Punggol planning zone which is in the most North-Eastern region of Singapore. Dubbed as one of Singapore’s most notable non-mature estates, its humble beginnings started as a fishing village and immigrants who then took up residency also carried out poultry farming, Punggol has come a long way to its current status of ‘A Waterfront Town of the 21st Century’. 

The transformation of this kampong village was achieved through a land reclamation project resulting in a total area of 155 Hectares(1,550,000 sqm) of land being reclaimed. To put the size into context, that’s equivalent to 1,240 olympic-sized swimming pools.

This laid the foundation of this 21st century town where it serves as a test-bed for the many innovative smart technologies to be rolled out to public housing. The most recent being the barrierless car park system introduced to the Northshore Residences BTO project. 

With a full repertoire of upcoming developments including the large-scale development of the Punggol Digital District, The Terrace sits in an exciting neighbourhood filled with upcoming changes which is something we like to see for continued interest in the residential projects in the vicinity.

The Terrace was launched as an EC project which officially fulfilled its MOP in May of 2022 where units were then offered into the resale market being the newest supply of private residential units to flow into the Punggol estate. 

It is also interesting to note that Punggol has a total of 13 private residential projects excluding the recently TOP Piermont Grand, out of which 4 are of Condo Status. 

The Terrace is also 1 out of the 3 private residential projects in Punggol that enjoy waterfront living with direct access to the man-made waterway ‘My Waterway@Punggol’ which is also connected to the PCN network.

Its launch price ranged between $700 – $900 PSF with 3-bedroom type to 5-bedroom type unit configurations. Judging from the unit mix, developers intended for The Terrace to be a more family-orientated type of development.

The current transacted pricing is hovering around the $1,2xx PSF – $1,3xx PSF which also means that the first owners are sitting on a paper gain of approximately $300 PSF – $600 PSF at the moment.

With property prices in Punggol still being lower as compared to some of the other matured towns in the OCR like Ang Mo Kio, this acts as a good leverage for capital appreciation in the future as Punggol continues to develop and mature in terms of its infrastructure and residential community.

Being one of the first few private residential projects in Punggol which features direct access to the waterway and PCN, The Terrace stands at a good density size of over 700 units. This supports the gains that the first hand owners are sitting on due to the larger volume of transactions that have been lodged as compared to some of the smaller scale projects.

One would expect that due to the location being near a waterway albeit being man-made, access to public transportation might not be as convenient. However, on the contrary, this project has a side gate which leads directly to the bus stop along the main road Punggol Drive and also to Kadaloor LRT station which will take you to Punggol MRT in just 3 stops.

Developer Kheng Leong Co (Pte) Ltd is another reputable developer with a long history and track record evolving from a commodity and spice trading company since its beginnings in 1949 to an international investment group with particular interests in property development and commercial investment.

Their recent local stints include projects like The Watergardens At Canberra, Amo Residence and Avenue South Residence, to name a few.

Site Plan Analysis

The layout of the land site of The Terrace is close to an L-Shape, with blocks 90, 92, 94 and 96 being closest to the side which leads to the main road. In total, there are 12 residential blocks and the project includes the standard range of facilities except for a Tennis Court. 

The facilities are split into 3 main zones namely Active zone which is the area where you find different variations of swimming pools including a pseudo beach theme pool, function rooms and also a rather unique dance studio. 

The Leisure zone is where you will find the Origami Pool which is one of the signature facilities in The Terrace, the clubhouse which includes a karaoke room and reading lounge.

Lastly, The Tranquil zone is where one would go for a moment of zen which features a yoga deck and also an open picnic lawn for multi-use.

The residential blocks are arranged in a uniform manner where you either get a North-East or South-West facing orientation.

The developer has also designed this project with a basement carpark infrastructure where it provides convenience to both residents and visitors by having access to the residential blocks directly. 

The more premium blocks would be at block 80, 82, 84 and 86 where units here that are fronting towards the waterway get to enjoy the waterfront. 

Unit types that enjoy the waterfront view are made up of mainly the 4 bedroom premium layouts and also a small percentage of 3 bedroom premium and 4 bedroom layout.

 

Location Analysis

The Terrace is located within District 19 towards the Eastern side of Punggol. The main entrance to the development is located along Edgedale Plains.

The nearest public transportation access would be Kadaloor LRT station and also the bus stop located right below along Punggol Drive road. There is a side gate located near block 92 that leads directly to the bus stop and LRT platform which is great news for residents commuting via public transport. Do note however that the walkway from the side gate to the bus stop is currently unsheltered, so umbrellas will still be required in the event of wet weather.

Commuting via the LRT will take you just 3 stops to Punggol station where you can transfer over to the Punggol NEL train system. This is where you will find Waterway Point which serves as the main retail mall in Punggol. 

Alternatively, if you are just in need of some grocery shopping, 1 LRT stop at Oasis is where you will find a heartland mall called Oasis Terrace which consists of essential retail shops, F&B outlets and FairPrice. Punggol Polyclinic is located right beside as well in the event of healthcare needs.

Looking slightly ahead into the future, 1 LRT stop away at Riviera is where the upcoming Cross-Island MRT line will be integrated to. This will improve the connectivity towards the Eastern neighbourhood estates of Pasir Ris and Tampines. This might potentially also increase the rental demand in the area as residents will gain access to more convenient public transportation towards the business hubs in Tampines, Changi Business Park as well as the Aviation Park area.

For drivers, the main expressway access would be via TPE and KPE. Depending on the direction headed, it would usually take approximately 10 minutes from The Terrace to the expressway network. From TPE you will then be able to traverse easily to the central regions either by SLE/CTE or KPE/MCE and you should hit the central area in 30 minutes. 

As for recreational activities, currently there is Punggol Safra where you will find an indoor water playground along with a host of other enrichment centres. With the recent opening of One Punggol in October 2022, the key facilities here will feature a 700-seater hawker centre which features a unique condition that every stall here must have at least 1 dish that is less than $4 which I am sure everyone can appreciate the notion of keeping local hawker fare affordable. 

To top that off, the largest public library in Singapore will also be located here which boasts of 5 storeys with dedicated zones to cater for different age groups.

The Punggol PCN network will also serve as a main link to multiple recreational spots like Punggol Settlement with a whole host of seafood and F&B establishments.

You will also find a common sight of anglers hauling their catch from the Punggol Jetty and also Punggol Beach which is also considered as a historic site in the National Heritage Board’s list of Historic Sites. 

Not forgetting the trail to Coney Island as well where the initial otter spotting site sprouted from.

With Punggol being a developing estate with multiple BTO projects coming up, we can safely say that almost every other cluster of residential plots here will have education facilities.

For families with Primary-School going children, it will be good to note that if you are staying or intend to find residency at The Terrace, blocks 90, 92, 94 and 96 will offer the greatest spread of having 6 Primary schools within a 1km radius. 

Schools within the 1km radius would include Edgefield Primary School, Greendale Primary School, Horizon Primary School, Oasis Primary School, Waterway Primary School and the more popular Mee Toh School. 

The remaining 8 blocks will be within 1km radius of the same pool of Primary Schools except for Mee Toh School.

Price Analysis

As we move on to the pricing environment in The Terrace, we can reference from the graph above that there is a spike in terms of resale transactions at the MOP stage back in May/June 2022.

This is quite a usual movement for EC projects that just fulfilled its MOP. There were some outlying units that were resold before MOP, likely with an early sale approval. These owners although did not capitalise as much appreciation as the owners who resold later after MOP, but still had a good growth for the shorter period of holding.

While there is a constant growth in terms of the PSF price, there is also a noticeable dip in terms of volume of resale transactions starting from September 2022 onwards after several rounds of interest rate increases. 

With recent resale transaction prices ranging from $1,1xx – $1,3xx PSF we do foresee that there is still room for a potential continued upward growth trend in terms of PSF as there are still multiple undeveloped residential land within Punggol itself.

Evaluating The Terrace against our PLB MOAT Analysis tool returns with a score of 6/10 for The Terrace.

We see that the top contributing factors that are awarded a score of 5 comes from firstly the Parents’ attraction effect which is attributed to having more than 3 primary schools within a 1km radius.

The Volume Effect where the number of resale transactions in the last 1 year is more than 15% of the total number of units in the project.

The Exit Audience potential where there is more than 2000 supply of new HDB units in the past 10 years. This will correlate to the future exit plan where naturally bulk of the buyer audience would come from the HDB upgrader pool attributed to the multiple BTO projects that have launched and yet to launch in Punggol.

Comparing the surrounding projects at The Amore & Riverparc Residence, we can see that the highest overall price growth is from Riverparc Residence.

Being of almost similar age as The Amore, The Terrace enjoys a slightly higher price growth. 

If we were to take a look at the latest project to TOP Piermont Grand, their launch prices were at $1,0xx – $1,1xx PSF with current transactions already being lodged at $1,3xx PSF. What we would expect is for the first hand owners to probably price in another $300 – $400 PSF once the project has fulfilled its MOP and units hit the resale market then.

With Piermont Grand being another project that offers a waterfront view, the price gap between the new and old would provide for a good disparity in their prices for The Terrace to remain as an attractive alternative choice should buyers be keen to buy into a project with a waterfront living lifestyle and yet not able to stomach the just MOP prices then.

 

Floor Plan Analysis

The unit distribution mix at The Terrace is of a larger scale starting from 3 bedroom onwards. Even the regular 3 bedroom layouts are that of a full-sized 3 bedroom floor plan where the kitchen zone would come with a proper yard, WC and household shelter.

For the newer projects, the entry level 3 bedroom layout would be that of a more compact size of usually around 900 sqft odd where the kitchen is generally smaller in size without the yard area.

3 bedroom

For the regular 3 bedroom, there is only 1 layout type available at 1,001 sqft. Just to note that while the kitchen is considered a full-sized kitchen, one of the common bedroom size here is slightly smaller in size where you notice that only a single bed is placed in the floor plan.

For the 3 bedroom premium there are 2 main layout types, Type 1 at 1,173 sqft and Type 2 at 1,076 sqft. 

The key differences would be the presence of a dry kitchen area, a slightly elongated balcony area and 1 smaller common bedroom in Type 1. Type 2 would feature both common bedrooms being able to fit in a queen-sized bed and have all 3 bedrooms lined up in a single row sharing the same facing with a more squarish balcony area.

4 bedroom

For the 4 bedroom configurations, there are 2 different layouts even though both are similar in size at 1,313 sqft. The layout is almost indifferent with just a slight variation in terms of the dry kitchen size and the entrance foyer area based on the floor plan layout. Type 1 will come with a more walk-in-closet style kind of wardrobe area which will line the walkway to the master en-suite.

The 4 bedroom premium unit will come at 1,442 sqft in size. You will still notice that 1 of the common bedrooms on the opposite side is still smaller in size to cater comfortably for a single bed. The key feature of the 4 bedroom premium unit will be the additional bathroom which will serve as a jack-and-jill bathroom for the 2 common bedrooms which are able to fit in a queen size bed.

5 bedroom

The 5 bedroom layout units at The Terrace are considered the Penthouse units which are only available at 5 stacks of 5, 9, 10, 13 and 14. Even though these are penthouse units, these are what we term as the single loading floor plate layout unlike regular penthouses which come with 2 storeys and a common roof terrace area. 

For this layout, it’s fairly similar to the regular floor plan layout with a balcony area for the outdoor space with an additional 5th bedroom which would usually be a junior master bedroom. However, it seems like the 5th bedroom is more of a common bedroom design with a jack-and-jill style bathroom instead of being fully en-suite.

Upcoming Developments 

With the many undeveloped plots of land in Punggol, it seems we have quite a bit to cover in this segment. Looking from an overall perspective of the area closeby, you will notice that all the current green plots North of The Terrace have already been rezoned into a mixture of majority residential, educational and also places of worship in URA’s 2019 Master Plan.

While we are unsure if the residential zones will be developed into HDB clusters or other private residential sites, it is always a good sign to have upcoming new residential developments to bring renewed interest into the area. 

More so if they are private residential developments which will then lead the resale prices due to the higher land cost, pricing strategy of new launches will usually only be more costly than the previous earlier plots. The disparity gap will then pull up the resale prices should buyers need to consider an alternative product when they are unable to stomach the new launch prices.

Almost half of the current Coney Island area has also been rezoned into a residential plot as well.

Zooming into the closest plot right in front of The Terrace, the empty plot of land has already been rezoned into a Health & Medical care zone. If the plan remains unchanged, we would expect the blocks from 90 – 102 to experience a heavier brunt of the construction noise especially during the initial stages where foundation works are involved. However, this would also mean an increased convenience for healthcare should the need arise. 

Lastly, one of the most major redevelopment in Punggol would of course be the birth of the Punggol Digital District which is in line with the government’s direction of transforming into a Smart Nation. 

The cluster here will feature a new MRT station Punggol Coast which will be the new final stop along the NEL. The site itself will feature a hybrid blend of industrial and academics with a new to market blend of JTC site and also a school campus site when Singapore Institute of Technology moves over.
This will not only create more job opportunities within the estate itself but also the student population who are pursuing their academics in the current trends of technology.

With this move, we would also expect demand for residential housing in the Punggol region to grow to cater for this massive scale project which can be seen in the URA’s Master Plan 2019 where majority of the empty land plots have been zoned into residential sites.

Conclusion

As The Terrace is currently the newest private residential project to hit the resale market in Punggol, we see a strong signal in terms of its potential capital appreciation bolstered by the many upcoming major developments in the region.

While there are multiple alternatives to private residential housing in Punggol, The Terrace still holds its edge as being one of the three developments within Punggol to offer an option of waterfront living and yet being within a short walking distance to public transportation and also amenities for daily essentials.

With a host of amenities and facilities located nearby, this will be an ideal location for families and those with young children seeking entrance into primary school will benefit from the multiple choices of educational institutes within the 1km radius.

Being next door to the PCN and waterway also serves as a strategic location for owners who enjoy or are seeking to strike a balance between indoors and outdoors for a healthy lifestyle and general wellbeing.

Don’t take our word for it, have a peek into some of the units here for a first experience with this project here at The Terrace:

As always, if you would like a more personalised consultation and in-depth information about this project, do reach out to us here and our consultants will be more than happy to offer you further insights and be a part of your property journey.

We will see you at our next review, cheers.