The tender for the Government Land Sale (GLS) parcel at Dunearn Road closed today on 26 June 2025. It drew strong developer interest, with nine bidders participating in a highly competitive round. A consortium formed by CSC Land Group (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Sekisui House, Ltd. And Frasers Property Phoenix II Pte. Ltd. emerged with the highest bid of $491.5 million, or $1,410 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), edging out the next highest bidder by 3.7%.
This is the first site in the upcoming Turf City Estate, envisioned to be a new high-density housing estate, with a highly livable, inclusive and endearing living environment. It will include both public and private housing, to be progressively developed in the next twenty to thirty years.
Table 1: Details of the GLS site
Locational Attributes
Bukit Timah Turf City is designed as a sustainable and car-lite estate where residents will be getting around predominantly through public transport, walking and cycling. Hence, the site is planned with reduced parking provision, adopting 60% of the maximum allowable parking lots.
This land parcel will be connected to the future civic heart and centrepiece of the estate, key amenity cluster around the Grandstand buildings and the upcoming Turf City MRT station.
Neighbourhood Amenities
This site is located within the Bukit Timah in the Core Central Region (CCR), amongst the most prestigious housing estates in Singapore. It is situated amongst several of the 39 gazetted Good Class Bungalow (GCB) areas in Singapore. The majority of homes in Bukit Timah are private condominiums and landed properties.
Within the area of the site, there are several essential amenities for current dwellers to patronise. Given its exceptional variety of educational offerings, this Dunearn Road site is a choice location for both families with school-aged children and international students. Some of these schools include:
Nanyang Girls’ High School (Secondary) – Within 1km
Methodist Girls’ School (Primary and Secondary) – Between 1km to 2km
Raffles Girls’ Primary School – Between 1km to 2km
Hwa Chong Institution (Secondary and Junior College – Integrated Programme) – Between 1km to 2km
National Junior College – Between 1km to 2km
Ngee Ann Polytechnic – Between 1km to 2km
Transport and Connectivity
The site is a seven-minute walk to Sixth Avenue MRT Station on the Downtown Line (DTL). Within just five MRT stops, residents can access five interchange stations, offering convenient connections to multiple parts of Singapore.
In future, the upcoming Turf City MRT Station on the Cross Island Line, slated to open in 2032, will further enhance connectivity for residents. It will provide direct links to the western and northeastern regions of Singapore.
Being planned as a car-lite district, Bukit Timah Turf City will have a comprehensive public transport network, including cycling paths and walkways. Bus services are also planned to increase the overall internal connectivity.
Major roads connected to the site include Bukit Timah Road, Dunearn Road, and Eng Neo Avenue, which connects to the Pan Island Expressway. Within a 10-minute drive, motorists can reach Orchard Road, Beauty World Bukit Timah Shopping Centre, Jelita Mall and Holland Village.
Price and Market Trends
In the past few years, there have been only a handful of GLS sites awarded in the Bukit Timah Planning Area. There is a pent-up demand for homes with a lack of non-landed homes, with potential right-sizers from the landed estates or young families looking to live near their parents.
Currently, there will be two other land parcels in the GLS programme in the vicinity. The tender for the Holland Link site will close on 29 July 2025, while another site at Holland Plain is available in the 1H 2025 Reserve List. However, both sites are less conveniently located in terms of connectivity. However, they offer a more tranquil and serene environment with greater privacy for buyers.
Second Site at Dunearn Road Announced
Bukit Timah Turf City will be a new housing precinct for private and public housing. The 2H 2025 GLS Confirmed List includes a second site along Dunearn Road. Located just adjacent to this subject site, it will yield approximately 1,400 square meters of commercial space and 335 housing units. The tender for this site will open in December 2025.
Given the significant developer interest observed for the current Dunearn Road site receiving nine bids, the new parcel will likely attract substantial competition as well. The pricing achieved for the current Dunearn Road site could establish a benchmark for future developments in the Turf City area.
GLS sites available near Dunearn Road
Table 2: Comparable GLS Sites Awarded
District 10 has only seen few GLS sites made available in recent years. The most recent site awarded was at Orchard Boulevard, which was sold for $1,617 psf ppr. This bid is considerably lower than previous site at Cuscaden Road, as it is subjected to the new Harmonisation of GFA rule while also zoned as ‘Residential with Commercial at 1st Storey’.
The GLS site at Fourth Avenue that was awarded in 2017 is located approximately 500m away from this Dunearn Road site. Now Fourth Avenue Residences, it was sold for $1,540 psf ppr then.
Price performance of condominiums near Dunearn Road
The lack of GLS sites in District 10 means a tighter supply of resale units available. Coupled with Bukit Timah being in a popular estate, condominiums in Bukit Timah have all seen a general price growth since 2020. The resale prices of non-landed developments in CCR and D10 saw their median price psf transacted rise 25.5% and 18.2% respectively since 2020.
Chart 1: Prices of non-landed homes in District 10 vs Core Central Region
Potential Demand/Buyer Profile
As the first land parcel sale in Bukit Timah Turf City since the announcement of its redevelopment, this site could attract several groups of buyers. There is pent-up demand for non-landed homes in Bukit Timah as the last launch was in 2018 (now Fourth Avenue Residences). Moreover, Bukit Timah Turf City is also a new township, and this will be the first site for development. A new estate would mean modern amenities and updated infrastructure (e.g. use of technology) with younger demographic for a more vibrant environment. This will be a draw for many buyers.
The previous launch in District 10 was the freehold Watten House, where the key selling point was its units having large floor plates. High net worth buyers looking to purchase for their own stay will look for large living area, especially if they have children. In addition, investors could also look to tap on the large tenant pool of high-income expatriate families.
Demand could also come from owners of landed properties in the area looking to right-size to a smaller house, or people who have grown up in this estate looking to stay closer to their parents. Surrounding the Dunearn Road site are landed estates such as at Namly, Duchess, Watten and Greenwood. Owners looking to right-size to unlock monies for retirement or other purposes may decide to right-size into a condominium unit nearby. Based on the median price of landed homes located in District 10 in 1Q 2025, homeowners can easily right-size into a new condominium. Similarly, their children may also look for their own home in an area where they are familiar with, or to be near their family.
Depreciating lease may also be a concern for homeowners. Their shorter remaining lease and higher cost of maintenance may cause the property price to depreciate faster. Hence, some owner may choose to upgrade to a new condominium to preserve their value. While newer homes are typically smaller, families where their children have moved out may also require less space. There are several 99-year leasehold condominiums within a 2km radius of the Dunearn Road site which are considerably older.
Table 3: 99-year leasehold condominiums within 2km of Dunearn Road site
Table 4: 1Q 2025 Median Prices for Landed Resale and Non-Landed New Private Homes in District 10
Conclusion
This Dunearn Road site could be the parcel that developers have been eyeing due to its rarity, as well as the first site in the new township of Bukit Timah Turf City. Besides its prime location and future potential, this site can expect more competition between larger and smaller developers due to its smaller size.
Despite challenges faced by global markets, Singapore’s residential market maintains a largely positive outlook for the foreseeable future. Over the years, Singapore has built a name for itself as a reputable wealth hub in the region, with local real estate being perceived as a quality asset offering stable rental yield for investors.
Separately, Singapore is experiencing a significant wave of wealth transfer. This is largely fuelled by an affluent middle class whose wealth base has been solidified by the rapid appreciation of their housing assets. With Singapore’s aging population, an acceleration in wealth transfer is to be expected. However, while this influx of capital will empower future generations financially, it could also widen the existing societal wealth gap.
With Singaporeans’ strong belief in real estate investment, much of the anticipated acceleration in wealth transfer will likely benefit this market. We already see this as older homeowners right-size to unlock housing equity for liquidity, and younger buyers receive parental support for property purchases. Accordingly, this influx of capital will sustain long-term demand and price appreciation across Singapore’s residential market.
This Dunearn Road site could be the parcel that developers have been eyeing due to its rarity, as well as the first site in the new township of Bukit Timah Turf City. Besides its prime location and future potential, this site can expect more competition between larger and smaller developers due to its smaller size.
Additionally, the nine bids for the site reflect a better-than-expected developer response, riding on the wave of the keen interest for the latest Lakeside Drive site that drew six bidders.
Due to Dunearn Road coming under the harmonisation rule, as well as its proximity to Sixth Avenue, and the future Turf City MRT station, launch prices could start from approximately $3,200 psf.
