In Singapore’s property market, boutique condos have always divided opinion. Some buyers are drawn to their exclusivity, low density, and neighbourly feel; others see them as risky, offering fewer facilities, a narrower buyer pool, and sometimes higher maintenance costs.
District 15 offers an ideal testing ground for this debate. With one of the highest concentrations of boutique developments in the country, it’s a place where the performance of these small-scale projects can be observed over time.
So, in such a competitive environment, have boutique condos managed to hold their own as investments? We analysed 10 years of resale transactions (2014–2024) to find out.
Past performance is a useful signal, but it's not a forecast. The projects that outperformed over the last cycle aren't guaranteed to do so again, and the reasons they outperformed may no longer apply.
The more useful question is whether a particular property still makes sense at today's price, given your budget, objectives and timeline. That's where many buyers find it helpful to get a second opinion.
Over time, that's also why we decided to work with agents who shared the same data-driven and advisory-led approach behind our editorial, consultants who could help readers think through decisions more objectively, rather than simply push transactions.
Today, the team has worked with more than 2,000 clients across over $5B in property transactions.
What counts as a boutique development?
For this analysis, we define boutique condos as those with 150 units or fewer, but note that some are much smaller – there are even tiny projects with as few as 6 units.
While we’ve gathered as much data as possible, these few ultra-small developments are so far off the market radar that transaction records are scarce. Some may even have just one or two transactions over a period of several years; so, for practical purposes and to avoid distortions, we have excluded these from the study.
Our focus is on transactions between 2014 and 2024. Out of all the data from 2014 – 2024, we have 2,364 condos in the data set.
| Number of units | Number of condos | In D15 Only | % Boutique In D15 |
| 50 or less | 1086 | 324 | 30% |
| 51 to 150 | 621 | 82 | 13% |
| 151 or more | 656 | 48 | 7% |
Here, we can see the significance of D15 as a zone for boutique condos. Of the projects with 50 or fewer units, around a third of them are in D15.
First, let’s look at the general price movement of boutique condos versus larger condos
| Year/Units | 0 to 50 | 51 – 150 | More than 150 |
| 2014 | $1,327 | $1,507 | $1,327 |
| 2015 | $1,252 | $1,473 | $1,257 |
| 2016 | $1,286 | $1,528 | $1,341 |
| 2017 | $1,286 | $1,547 | $1,390 |
| 2018 | $1,445 | $1,711 | $1,452 |
| 2019 | $1,416 | $1,804 | $1,594 |
| 2020 | $1,423 | $1,648 | $1,581 |
| 2021 | $1,466 | $1,786 | $1,682 |
| 2022 | $1,577 | $1,904 | $1,806 |
| 2023 | $1,782 | $2,016 | $1,964 |
| 2024 | $1,717 | $1,955 | $1,985 |
| Annualised | 2.61% | 2.64% | 4.11% |
In general, boutique condos underperform their larger counterparts. This is because boutique projects tend to have limited facilities; some only have a small pool and gym, and nothing else. Boutique condo units also tend to have higher maintenance fees, as there are fewer owners to share the costs.
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