Our project pick · De Souza Avenue · Upper Bukit Timah
The Sen
How much is a genuinely beautiful location worth to you?
The Sen brings 347 homes to De Souza Avenue in Upper Bukit Timah, developed by Sustained Land together with Ho Lee Group and Greatview Development, on land acquired at roughly S$841 psf ppr. Its strongest case is not MRT convenience — Beauty World station sits around 1.1km away, and we would not pretend that is a five-minute walk. Its strongest case is location quality: external greenery, a quieter lower-rise neighbourhood, and access to the Rail Corridor and Bukit Timah nature belt, while still being a short bus ride from Beauty World and the wider Upper Bukit Timah amenities. The central buyer question is whether you are being compensated enough — in price and in lifestyle — for not living beside the MRT.
“Green Bukit Timah living — if you can stop measuring every home by metres to MRT.”
Benny, Best Buy Condo
The basics
- Total units
- 347 homes across five 10-storey blocks
- Tenure
- 99-year leasehold
- Developer
- Sustained Land together with Ho Lee Group and Greatview Development
- Land price
- Approximately S$841 psf ppr
- Setting
- De Souza Avenue, Upper Bukit Timah — near the Rail Corridor and the wider Bukit Timah nature network
- Transport
- Beauty World MRT is roughly 1.1km away — not doorstep and not an effortless walk for everyone. Bus stops along Jalan Jurong Kechil are roughly 100m away
- Schools
- Bukit Timah Primary is referenced at just over 1km, Keming Primary around 1.29km and Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary around 1.37km — not a strong within-1km P1 proposition; verify official block-specific distances
- Launch context
- About 80 of 347 units sold on launch weekend in November 2025 (roughly 23%) at an average around S$2,358 psf — dated context, not a live counter
Benny's Upper Bukit Timah walk
A schematic of the setting — not to scale, not a street map, and deliberately without walking times we cannot verify.
The Sen
347 homes across five 10-storey blocks on De Souza Avenue. Low to mid-rise by modern launch standards, in a neighbourhood that feels like it.
How the market responded
Figures as published, without embellishment.
- homes across five 10-storey blocks
- 347
- psf ppr land cost
- ~S$841
- sold on launch weekend, Nov 2025 (about 80 of 347 units, around S$2,358 psf average)
- ~23%
- to Beauty World MRT — not doorstep
- ~1.1km
“The market seems to be saying: we like the location, we like the entry quantum, but at S$3m+ convince us.”
Benny, Best Buy Condo
Why The Sen works
The residential arguments, set out plainly. None of these is a verdict, and none of them is a forecast.
Genuine external greenery
The Rail Corridor and the Bukit Timah nature belt are outside the gate, and they exist today. This is locational quality, not landscaping on a brochure.
“You can build another swimming pool. You cannot build another Bukit Timah.”
Upper Bukit Timah residential character
Quieter, lower-rise surroundings that feel markedly different from a dense town-centre launch. For the right household, that is the point of the purchase.
Practical bus connectivity
Bus stops along Jalan Jurong Kechil are roughly 100m away. A three-minute walk plus a short bus ride can be easier than a 12-minute uncovered walk — which changes how the MRT distance should be judged.
Sensible entry quantum for regular formats
Regular 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom homes, indicatively from around S$1.546m and S$2.028m respectively, sit credibly against the wider Upper Bukit Timah market. Mayfair Modern's 2026 resale context around the low-to-mid S$2,200s psf suggests the project's mid-S$2,300s psf is not obviously detached from the neighbourhood.
Meaningful unit selection remains
With sales progress in the low-to-mid 40% range as at 2026 depending on dataset and date, buyers are not choosing from leftovers. Regular smaller and standard family formats have generally moved better; the larger Prestige formats have seen slower take-up.
The trade-off
MRT reality, and what replaces it
This is not an MRT project in the classic sense, and we would not present it as one. Beauty World station is around 1.1km away — not doorstep, and not an effortless walk for everyone in Singapore weather. But straight-line distance and lived commute are different things. A short walk to a bus stop plus a few stops to Beauty World is a real, workable pattern for many households, and Beauty World and Bukit Timah transformation work should only ever be treated as support, not as the reason to buy. The clean way to think about it: if you hate buses, do not rationalise it away. If a short ride genuinely does not bother you, the location starts to look much better.
“Don't ask me whether 1km is near MRT. Ask me what the actual journey feels like. A three-minute walk plus a short bus ride can sometimes be easier than a 12-minute uncovered walk.”
Benny, Best Buy Condo
What gives Benny pause?
The limitations deserve the same attention as the strengths.
MRT is not comfortably walkable for everyone. Test the real journey — walk and bus — at the hour you would actually travel.
This is not a strong within-1km primary-school story: Bukit Timah Primary is referenced at just over 1km, Keming Primary around 1.29km and Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary around 1.37km. Verify official block-specific distances before P1 priority enters your reasoning.
Prestige formats — 3-bedroom + Study around S$2.975m and 4-bedroom + Study around S$3.45m, indicative and date-sensitive — require a much harder value justification against the full S$3m+ family-home universe.
Sales pace has been steady rather than strong: roughly 23% on launch weekend in November 2025, progressing to the low-to-mid 40% range as at 2026. That is information about price acceptance, not a criticism — read it that way.
The Beauty World and Bukit Timah transformation should support a purchase case you already believe in, not carry it on its own.
“Everyone asks how far the condo is from the MRT. I also want to know what I'm walking home to.”
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.
Mayfair Modern and young Upper Bukit Timah resale
A useful benchmark in the same catchment, with 2026 resale context around the low-to-mid S$2,200s psf and selected transactions higher. Not a 'cheaper alternative' argument — a check on whether the new-launch premium is doing work you actually value.
The wider S$3m+ family-home universe
At Prestige quantums the honest comparison set is every family home in that band — mature-estate resale, MRT-adjacent stock, landed-adjacent options — not just nearby new launches.
MRT-adjacent Bukit Timah and Beauty World stock
If rail convenience genuinely matters to your household, price the difference explicitly rather than assuming greenery compensates for it.
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
Regular 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom formats (roughly 678–1,109 sq ft) suit own-stay couples and families who want the location; the larger 3-bedroom + Study and 4-bedroom + Study Prestige formats (about 1,259–1,453 sq ft) need the location to do more work to justify the quantum.
Place & connectivity
Strong on place, weaker on rail. Around 1.1km to Beauty World MRT is the honest headline; roughly 100m to bus stops on Jalan Jurong Kechil is the honest mitigation. Judge the journey you would actually take.
Family ecosystem
The wider Bukit Timah education ecosystem is strong, but this is not a within-1km primary-school proposition. Do not let P1 priority become a purchase reason without official verification.
Affordability & quantum
Mid-S$2,300s psf against young-resale context in the low-to-mid S$2,200s psf is defensible for regular formats. Past S$3m, the comparison set widens dramatically and the burden of proof shifts to the buyer's own priorities.
Tenure
99-year leasehold on a fresh lease, on land acquired at roughly S$841 psf ppr.
Resilience & future buyer pool
The future pool reads stronger for own-stay, rightsizer and greenery-led buyers than for pure rental investors expecting obvious expat-led demand. Greenery and Upper Bukit Timah character are hard to replicate; soft rail access narrows the pool. Both pressures are real.
“Property is not only transport. But transport is the part you cannot renovate away either.”
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.
Regular 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom formats
This is where the project's thesis is strongest: the entry quantum sits credibly against the wider Upper Bukit Timah market, and the future buyer pool is at its broadest.
Prestige 3-bedroom + Study and 4-bedroom + Study
Not off the table — but at indicative quantums around S$3m and above, be far more demanding. Compare against the full S$3m+ family-home universe, not just nearby new 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 value greenery, quiet and Upper Bukit Timah character more than a station at your gate.
- You are a rightsizer or downsizer who wants greenery without being isolated.
- A short bus ride as part of the commute genuinely does not bother you.
- You are focused on regular 2-bedroom or 3-bedroom formats where the quantum still makes sense.
- You want meaningful unit choice rather than a picked-over balance list.
Think harder if…
- You insist on five-minute walking access to the MRT.
- You are relying on primary-school 1km priority for this address.
- You are stretching into a Prestige unit without comparing the broader S$3m+ family-home universe.
- You are a pure rental investor expecting obvious expat-led demand.
- Your purchase thesis depends mainly on the Beauty World transformation.
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
An own-stayer, rightsizer or family who wants Upper Bukit Timah greenery and character, and who is comfortable with bus connectivity as part of daily life.
What still stands out then
- External greenery: the Bukit Timah nature belt and Rail Corridor sit outside the gate and are not going to be built over.
- A quieter, lower-rise residential character that newer, denser sites cannot manufacture.
- Established Upper Bukit Timah amenities via a short bus connection to Beauty World.
What it competes against
Future and resale competition
- MRT-adjacent stock around Beauty World, which will always answer the convenience question more directly.
- Young Upper Bukit Timah resale, including projects like Mayfair Modern.
- Future launches in the wider Bukit Timah catchment.
The quantum question
Regular two- and three-bedroom formats should keep a reasonably wide pool. The Prestige three-bedroom-plus-study and four-bedroom-plus-study formats, indicatively around S$3m and above today, face a much narrower future audience. That is a pool observation, not a price prediction.
What could make resale harder
Vulnerabilities
- The distance to Beauty World MRT stays relevant to every future buyer who insists on walking.
- The within-1km primary-school story is weak, which removes one common resale motivation.
- Leaning on the Beauty World transformation as the exit thesis is a fragile argument.
Exit profile
Reasonably broad for the regular formats; Selective for Prestige units.
“Everyone asks what you're buying. I also want to know who will want it from you later.”
Benny, Best Buy Condo
Benny's bottom line
The Sen
- A location-quality play, not an MRT-convenience play — and it should be judged that way.
- External greenery, quiet surroundings and practical bus access are the strengths; the ~1.1km MRT distance and weak within-1km school story are the honest costs.
- The strongest case sits in the regular 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom formats, where the quantum still makes sense against the wider Upper Bukit Timah market.
- Everyone asks how far the condo is from the MRT. I also want to know what I'm coming home to. The Sen asks you to trade some transport convenience for one of the greener residential environments in Upper Bukit Timah. If you hate buses, don't rationalise it away. But if a short ride to Beauty World genuinely doesn't bother you, the location starts to look much better. I'd be most interested in the regular family units where the quantum still makes sense. Once we cross S$3 million, Benny becomes much harder to impress.
