Our project pick · Dunearn Road · Bukit Timah
Dunearn House
Does “affordable Bukit Timah” still work when the affordability comes from shrinking the home?
Dunearn House brings 380 homes to 760–770 Dunearn Road in District 11, developed by Phoenix Dunearn Pte Ltd — an equal joint venture of Frasers Property, CSC Land Group and Sekisui House — on a 99-year lease from September 2025, with completion expected around 2030. The fundamentals are strong and the land-entry story is genuine. But project quality and unit proposition are not the same thing: the location is highly family-oriented, while roughly 176 of the 380 homes, about 46% of the project, are compact 2-bedroom formats.
“Excellent fundamentals, genuine first-mover land advantage — but not every unit expresses the Bukit Timah family story equally well.”
Benny, Best Buy Condo
The basics
- Address
- 760–770 Dunearn Road, District 11
- Total units
- 380 homes
- Tenure
- 99-year leasehold from September 2025
- Developer
- Phoenix Dunearn Pte Ltd — an equal joint venture of Frasers Property, CSC Land Group and Sekisui House
- Expected TOP
- Around 2030
- Land price
- Awarded at about S$1,410 psf ppr
- Transport
- Sixth Avenue MRT is a short walk — roughly 4–5 minutes in current project material
- Launch context
- 212 of 380 homes sold over the launch weekend of 25–26 July 2026 (56%) at an average of about S$3,140 psf. Buyers were about 86% Singaporean, 13% PR and 1% foreign
- Unit mix
- Around 176 of the 380 homes — roughly 46% — are 2-bedroom formats
Benny's Dunearn Road walk
A schematic of the setting — not to scale, not a street map, and deliberately without walking times we cannot verify.
Dunearn House
380 homes on Dunearn Road, on the first of the Dunearn Road parcels to be awarded — at about S$1,410 psf ppr.
How the market responded
Figures as published, without embellishment.
- homes
- 380
- sold over launch weekend, 25–26 July 2026 (212 units, around S$3,140 psf average)
- 56%
- of the project is 2-bedroom formats (about 176 homes)
- ~46%
- psf ppr land cost, against about S$1,625 psf ppr for the next parcel
- ~S$1,410
“56% isn't failure. It's selective demand — and the selection tells you something.”
Benny, Best Buy Condo
Why Dunearn House works
The arguments in favour, set out plainly. None of these is a verdict, and none of them is a forecast.
Established District 11 fundamentals
Sixth Avenue MRT is a short walk, and Bukit Timah's shops, food and services already exist. Nothing here depends on a future promise to be useful on an ordinary weekday.
“A location that works today is easier to explain to tomorrow's buyer.”
A genuine land-entry advantage
This parcel was awarded at about S$1,410 psf ppr. The next Dunearn Road parcel went for about S$1,625 psf ppr — roughly 15% higher. That is a real difference in starting basis, and it gives this project pricing shelter its neighbours will not have.
“A lower land cost helps the developer's starting point. It doesn't sign your future buyer's cheque.”
Strong validation of the family case
Every standard 3-bedroom home sold over the launch weekend of 25–26 July 2026. That is meaningful market validation of the family-use case at this address — though past take-up never guarantees future performance.
Credible developer group
An equal joint venture of Frasers Property, CSC Land Group and Sekisui House — an experienced combination rather than a first-time sponsor.
Earlier entry into a long transformation
URA has planned roughly 15,000–20,000 homes in the wider Turf City area over 20–30 years. Buying early means entering before that story matures — with the trade-offs that come with it.
The test
First-mover advantage — examine it, don't buy it
The advantage is real in two specific ways: a lower land basis than the parcel next door, and earlier entry into the Turf City story. It is conditional in one important way: a higher land cost next door does not oblige any future resale buyer to pay more for your home. And it carries costs — first movers may live through years of construction and infrastructure works, and later projects may arrive with better integration, commercial components at street level, newer facilities, or a more mature precinct around them. Treat the transformation as support for a location you already believe in, not as the thesis itself.
“First mover gives you earlier entry. It does not give you permanent superiority.”
Benny, Best Buy Condo
What gives Benny pause?
The limitations deserve the same attention as the strengths.
Roughly 46% of the project is compact 2-bedroom product, in a location whose strongest story is family use. That is a mismatch worth naming.
A small quantum is not the same as cheap property. The entry cheque falls partly because the home is smaller, while average psf stays high — around S$3,140 at launch.
Ask honestly whether a 527 sq ft two-bedroom still serves you when your life stage changes.
Turf City is credible but long-dated: 20–30 years, and 15,000–20,000 homes of eventual competing supply in the same story.
Early buyers may live alongside construction and infrastructure works for years.
The Bukit Timah education ecosystem is strong, but do not assume a within-1km P1 advantage — verify official block-specific distances if schools matter to you.
“Lowering the price by shrinking the home is a real option. Just don't confuse it with getting a better deal.”
Benny, Best Buy Condo
What else could I buy?
What we would put side by side in a real conversation. No listing prices and no agent numbers appear on this page.
Later Dunearn Road and Turf City launches
Higher land basis, but potentially better integration and commercial components at street level. Higher cost next door does not automatically make this project cheap.
Younger Bukit Timah and District 11 resale
Often more space for the money, with immediate occupancy and a settled environment rather than a construction period.
The wider S$3m+ family-home universe
At four-bedroom quantums the honest comparison set is every family home in that band, not just nearby new launches.
Compare on the same dimensions
Life-phase Residential Suitability (LPRS)
The qualitative lenses we think through on every project — life-stage fit, place, family ecosystem, quantum, tenure and resilience. No scores, no internal formula — just what each lens tells us here.
Life-stage suitability & layout
Standard 3-bedroom (872–1,001 sq ft) and 4-bedroom (1,184–1,378 sq ft) formats align with what this location is genuinely good at. Compact 2-bedroom homes from 527 sq ft need a clear-eyed answer about how long they will still fit your life.
Place & connectivity
Sixth Avenue MRT within a short walk, plus established Bukit Timah amenities. Practical, present-tense connectivity rather than a promised future line.
Family ecosystem
The wider Bukit Timah education ecosystem is a real strength. P1 priority within 1km is not something to assume — verify officially before it becomes a purchase reason.
Affordability & quantum
Entry from S$1.475m for a two-bedroom looks reachable, but at around S$3,140 psf average the affordability comes largely from size. Three-bedroom from S$2.597m and four-bedroom from S$3.588m are the figures where the family case must stand on its own.
Tenure
99-year leasehold running from September 2025 — a fresh lease, on land awarded at about S$1,410 psf ppr.
Resilience & future buyer pool
Well-chosen family formats should keep a reasonably wide audience in an established District 11 address. Compact formats lean more on lifestyle, investor and rightsizer demand, and face more substitute stock.
“Project quality and unit proposition are two different questions. This project makes you answer both.”
Benny, Best Buy Condo
Benny would look hardest at…
Where the evidence in this review points most clearly. Not a verdict on any specific unit — stack, floor, facing and price still decide.
Standard 3-bedroom family formats
They align the location, the education ecosystem, own-stay longevity and the future buyer pool better than anything else here. Their sell-out over launch weekend is meaningful validation of that case — though it says nothing guaranteed about future performance.
Compact 2-bedroom formats
Not automatically unattractive, but they demand a harder question: am I buying value, or simply lowering the quantum by buying less home?
Larger 4-bedroom homes
Genuinely useful for family buyers, but an absolute quantum from S$3.588m narrows the future audience. Compare broadly, not just against nearby launches.
Who should look closer — and who should think harder
Neither list is a judgement about you. They are simply the situations this project does and doesn't suit.
Worth exploring if…
- You want an established Bukit Timah address with MRT access already in place.
- You are focused on standard 3-bedroom or 4-bedroom family formats for own-stay.
- You can wait until around 2030 and are comfortable living near works in the meantime.
- You treat the Turf City transformation as a bonus rather than the reason to buy.
- You are prepared to be disciplined about which unit, not just which project.
Think harder if…
- You are choosing a compact two-bedroom mainly because it is the lowest cheque available.
- You expect the family space you need to still work in a 527 sq ft home in ten years.
- You are relying on primary-school 1km priority without official verification.
- You are stretching into a S$3m+ four-bedroom without comparing the full family-home universe.
- Your case rests on the higher land price next door forcing your resale value up.
Benny's Exit Test: who buys this from me next?
Entry and exit are two halves of the same decision. This is not a forecast, a target price or a score — just who is likely to buy this from you later, and what could make that harder.
The likely next buyer
For 3- and 4-bedroom homes: a Bukit Timah family, a well-resourced HDB upgrader, or an own-stayer who wants MRT access, established amenities and a maturing Turf City precinct. For compact 2-bedroom homes: a couple, a single professional, a parent-child purchase, an investor or a rightsizer — a narrower and less family-dependent case.
What still stands out then
- Sixth Avenue MRT access, which does not depend on anything being built later.
- An established District 11 address with amenities already in place.
- The wider Bukit Timah education ecosystem.
- A potentially more mature Turf City precinct by the time you sell.
What it competes against
Future and resale competition
- Very large future Turf City supply — roughly 15,000–20,000 homes over a long period.
- Newer Dunearn Road and Turf City launches, possibly with commercial or integrated advantages.
- Existing and younger Bukit Timah resale alternatives.
The quantum question
For 3- and 4-bedroom homes, the test is whether the future total quantum stays reachable for the next family buyer. For compact 2-bedroom homes, the exit leans more on lifestyle, rental and investor appeal, against a deeper pool of substitute stock. Neither is a price forecast.
What could make resale harder
Vulnerabilities
- A long construction and transformation period for early buyers.
- A high psf despite a lower entry cheque on the compact formats.
- A product-size mismatch for buyers who eventually outgrow a two-bedroom home.
Exit profile
Reasonably broad for well-chosen 3-bedroom family formats; more selective for compact 2-bedrooms and high-quantum large units.
“Bukit Timah helps the exit story. But the next buyer still has to want your exact size of home at your exact total price.”
Benny, Best Buy Condo
Benny's bottom line
Dunearn House
- Project fundamentals? Strong — an established District 11 address with MRT access already working.
- Land-entry story? Genuinely strong: about S$1,410 psf ppr here against about S$1,625 psf ppr next door.
- Family-unit proposition? Strong. Every standard 3-bedroom sold over launch weekend.
- Small-unit proposition? Less obvious. Almost half the project is compact 2-bedroom product in a family location.
- Transformation story? Credible, but long-dated — support for the case, not the case itself.
- A Top Pick, yes — with strong unit-selection discipline. First mover is a land-cost and timing advantage, not a guaranteed capital-gain advantage.
