Why The Orie At Toa Payoh Sold 86% Of Its 777 Units In One Weekend 

The Orie at Toa Payoh has set the tone for 2025 due to its rapid sales: it moved 86 per cent of its 777 units during the launch weekend. This has prompted some eye-rolling among market watchers, as it achieved a particularly high average price per square foot of $2,705 psf. However, the market has spoken: buyers are interested, and the Toa Payoh location is proving to be a massive draw. Here’s what happened during the launch weekend, and how The Orie managed to exceed expectations:

A rundown on The Orie

The Orie is a leasehold, 777-unit project at the junction of Lorong 1/Lorong 4 Toa Payoh. It’s jointly developed by CDL, Frasers Property and Sekisui House. The Orie is within walking distance to Braddell MRT station (NEL), which puts it in striking distance of the Toa Payoh HDB hub (one stop away). If you want two other train lines, Caldecott MRT station (CCL, TEL) is also within range, if you don’t mind needing a bus connection.

The average selling price during the launch weekend was $2,705 psf, which is quite striking; this pricing level is typically associated with prime region luxury properties rather than an area like Toa Payoh. In terms of overall quantum, most of the smaller one-bedroom units started at $1.28 million, while three-bedroom units (850 sq. ft.) reached around $2.09 million. The larger four- and five-bedroom units (approximately 1,216 sq. ft. and 1,453 sq. ft., respectively) were priced at around $2.92 million and $3.48 million.

The nearby HDB enclave is well-developed, with a direct bus connection to the Toa Payoh West Market & Food Centre. One of the other major attractions is the proximity to the HDB Hub, which offers a variety of restaurants, retail outlets, banking services, and more. The HDB enclave immediately surrounding The Orie also has the usual heartland amenities, and Toa Payoh Block 95 nearby has an NTUC FairPrice.

The upcoming Toa Payoh Integrated Development may also be a lure, but this is much further down the road in 2030.

The Orie sold 668 of its 777 units over the launch weekend, or about 86 per cent of units. You can see a full review of The Orie here.

How did it sell so well if it’s expensive?

Here’s a comment we saw online, regarding The Orie’s price:

This more or less captures the essence of the complaints, and it must be said that they are not unfounded. At over $2,700 psf, buyers could indeed afford a property in the Core Central Region (CCR). There’s also a psychological factor at play here, as seeing a non-city-centre property hit such price levels is bound to concern some buyers. That said, the real issue in 2025 is that comparing properties based on psf alone no longer provides a meaningful picture, given the evolving priorities of buyers and GFA harmonisation changes. Nonetheless, there are reasons why The Orie can command its price tag:

It’s the first new condo in Toa Payoh in around eight years

The Orie has seen a lot of pent-up demand. The last notable project in the area was Gem Residences, which was back in 2016 (and Gem Residences can’t compare in quality of layout, being older and much less efficient.)

Some other projects nearby include Trevista, Trellis Towers, and Oleander Tower; but The Orie is notably newer than them. This also means that Orie has layouts which are more space-efficient, such as two and three-bedders with a dumbbell layout. This makes for a positive contrast against its 2010-era counterparts, which are more likely to have wasteful features like big air-con ledges, planter boxes, bay windows, and so forth.

However, we should point out that the dumbbell layout is prominent in the smaller units. The larger units (four and five-bedders) have some long corridors, which are less efficient.

That said, we’ve made a price comparison between The Orie and the surrounding options here. None of the older counterparts besides Trevista seem to even reach the $2,000 psf mark on account of the age gap.

The high price per square foot may be due to the smaller units

By the end of the launch weekend, if you looked at the sales board, you’d see that most of the units sold were two and three-bedders. Sales of the larger units, as well as the dual-key units, saw smaller numbers. As with most properties, a smaller unit tends to have a higher price per square foot, but a lower quantum (and the reverse is true for bigger units.) There are, for instance, one-bedders at The Orie that reached $3,000 psf or more.

So it’s in part the small sizes of units sold, which are contributing to the high average of $2,700 psf.

On that note, realtors also pointed out a surprising turn here: the 850 sq. ft. three-bedders were highly contested. This is undoubtedly compact for a three-bedder, and it was uncertain if the buyers would accept it; many family buyers tend to look for at least 1,000 sq. ft. But in reality, these compact three-bedders sold faster than the two-bedders. In fact, when one of the buyers for the three-bedders dropped out, we heard that a further 77 people balloted for it.

This may be due to buyers’ better understanding of post-GFA harmonisation rules. Under the new rules, unliveable spaces such as air-con ledges, strata void spaces, etc. no longer count toward the total square footage. For this reason, The Orie’s three-bedders may have just as much living space as an older, pre-GFA harmonisation condo. This could make a count of 850 sq. ft. more palatable.

Potentially high numbers of HDB upgraders in future

Agents have noted that the surrounding HDB projects could experience a surge of upgraders in the future. This is because HDB upgraders often prefer to remain in the same neighbourhood, either due to familiarity or practical considerations such as proximity to schools and workplaces.

The HDB projects in Toa Payoh and Caldecott are typically of the high-value variety. As mentioned earlier, nearby HDB developments like The Peak @ Toa Payoh have achieved record-breaking prices. There’s also an expectation that 3-room flats in Caldecott could even reach $1 million, while 5-room flats here could reach $1.5 million and above, mirroring what has happened over at the Dawson area.

This creates an ideal scenario for future gains, as The Orie could attract a substantial pool of future buyers. The HDB upgraders in this area will likely have the purchasing power to buy a condo; and The Orie will stand out from the rest by being much newer (and timely, as well).

The Orie’s fast sales are driven by strong fundamentals

This represents the trinity of pent-up demand, a strong location, and a ready pool of future buyers. It demonstrates that, even at a higher price point, condominiums meeting these three criteria can continue to attract buyers. In this context, comparing The Orie to, say, a District 9 property may not be entirely fair.

Generally speaking, a condominium in Toa Payoh should not command the same price psf as one in Orchard, but in 2025 the psf comparison is one that shouldn’t even be made in the first place. However, property comparisons are far more nuanced than that, and buyers are likely to focus on practical considerations. Toa Payoh Hub is a proven area with growth potential, and already well-supported prices.

One agent pointed out that Trevista’s four-bedders (1,701 sq. ft.) are selling at around $3.158 million currently. The Orie’s four-bedders (1,216 sq. ft.) are smaller, but are around $3.1 million; this is still somewhat within expectations for the area, if you stick to comparing total quantum.

It may also be that, in terms of a new launch investment property, the next up-and-comer is the Zion Road plot (that is again bought by CDL). This may launch at a price close to Orie anyway given the lower land price, and there’s much more supply along Zion Road, so we may expect to have a competitive launch here.

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