Why Marina Bay Suites May Look Like a Poor Performer—But Its 4-Bedroom Units Tell a Different Story

Marina Bay Suites is a prime candidate in our study of ROI numbers, and why they don’t always tell the full story. At first glance, the numbers for Marina Bay Suites paint a disappointing picture: it has underperformed its neighbours and the broader market, and seen negative price growth since launch – it even has the lowest $PSF among comparable peers as of 2024. 

However, Marina Bay Suites may be better than you might think in terms of location or quality. In fact, it’s a luxury-grade project with spacious units, efficient layouts, and a prestigious central location. So let’s look at a more nuanced interpretation of the ROI:

A quick summary of Marina Bay Suites

Marina Bay Suites is a luxury residential condo located at 3 Central Boulevard, which is part of the Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC). Completed in 2013, this is a fairly exclusive project with 221 units. Because it’s a part of MBFC, this means a mixed-use format with restaurants, a supermarket, convenience stores, etc. connected to it.

MBFC (and by extension Marina Bay Suites) is connected to three MRT stations: Downtown (DTL), Raffles Place (NSL, EWL), and Marina Bay (NSL, CCL, TEL).

Flatlining after a high-priced start

Marina Bay Suites started at a high price, when it launched at $2,189 psf. But from the data below, we can see its price gradually slide, to the point where it slips below the District 1 average in 2017 ($1,889 psf versus the district average of $2,012 psf). 

By the time we get to 2024, Marina Bay Suites is at a significant discount versus the district average, at $1,917 psf to $2,102 psf.

Marina Bay Suites falls behind leasehold condos in District 1: these have seen an ROI of 1.33 per cent per annum, versus Marina Bay Suites’ return of -0.88 per cent. Marina Bay Suites falls even further behind the wider 99-year leasehold market, which has seen returns of 5.81 per cent.

We also took a look at purely resale transactions, to make a comparison. 

We’re doing this to filter out factors like the early buyers who paid the highest prices at launch, buyers who entered at lower prices later, etc. 

Unfortunately, it doesn’t paint a better picture, and in fact, it’s a bit worse. From resale transactions alone, Marina Bay Suites fell at an annualised rate of -3.37 per cent; this is also consistent with overall sales, where it underperformed District 1 and the wider leasehold condo market. 

Could it be a problem with the specific location, as prime as it is?

Let’s make specific comparisons to surrounding projects, for further insight

Marina Bay Suites has been the weakest performer among the four Marina Bay developments. Based on annualised price growth since their respective launches, Marina Bay Suites is the only project to register negative returns (–0.88 per cent per annum). 

Even in 2024, its average price per square foot (PSF) of $1,917 falls behind all three of its neighbours. This is despite The Sail @ Marina Bay ($2,051 psf) and Marina Bay Residences ($2,245 psf) being older. 

One of the factors we can’t ignore here is the launch price and age. The Sail and Marina Bay Residences both entered at lower prices and in earlier years, thus allowing more room for appreciation; hence, these two developments had positive returns of 3.87 per cent and 1.02 per cent respectively, whereas Marina Bay Suites and Marina One Residences had negative returns of -0.88 per cent and -0.67 per cent.

A key takeaway here, however, shouldn’t just be that Marina Bay Suites underperforms its neighbours. We should note that all the condos here have generally weak returns compared to the wider leasehold market, as shown above. This is our first clue, as it suggests an issue specific to the location (however, prime it seems.)

Let’s also compare Marina Bay Suites with other new projects that launched in the same year, to see how it fared:

The five projects – Centro Residences, Double Bay Residences, Marina Bay Suites, The Interlace, and Trevista – all reached completion between 2011 and 2014. All are 99-year leasehold condos, but differ widely in unit count, district, and positioning.

With the exception of Marina Bay Suites, every development has posted positive price growth since their early years. Double Bay Residences and Trevista were standout performers, for example, with strong annualised gains of 4.92 and 4.5 per cent respectively. 

Marina Bay Suites is the outlier with -0.88 per cent annualised returns. While it also launched during the 2009 – 2013 market bull run, it was seemingly more affected by post-2013 cooling measures than its counterparts. Its prices peaked in 2012–2013 at over $2,800 psf, before sliding to below $2,000 psf in subsequent years; and it has largely stagnated despite broader market recovery. To some degree, we feel the smaller resale pool (221 units) also contributed to greater price volatility and slower absorption.

Overall, the data underscores how entry timing and target demographic play major roles. While all five condos launched in a similar window, those in suburban or city-fringe locations (catering to mass-market demand) bounced back faster from the cooling measures. This is another hint that Marina Bay Suites’ issues are location or region-based. 

To exclude launch pricing issues, let’s once again look at purely resale transactions among these condos.

Here we find an interesting lesson about looking at ROI, and how it can be misleading:

While Marina Bay Suites appears to be the weakest performer based on returns since launch (–0.88 per cent), the picture shifts when we zoom in on resale-only transactions between 2019 and 2024.

From the table above, we see Marina Bay Suites emerge as the second-best performer, at least maintaining its price at around +0.21 per cent. Marina Bay Residences and Marina One Residences were both in the negatives. 

This suggests that Marina Bay Suites has been staging a quiet recovery in the resale market, despite its poor performance since launch. While it still lags in absolute price psf, the price movement shows stabilisation and a potential bottoming out.

This divergence highlights how long-term ROI can be skewed by launch pricing; and this has to be taken into context.

Next, let’s look at specific unit sizes, and how they affect ROI

This is for the simple reason that certain unit sizes can perform much better than others. For this case study, we will focus on three and four-bedder units, as these are the vast majority of unit types in Marina Bay Suites:

3-bedroom units

4-bedroom units

From the tables, we can see that Marina Bay Suites’ three-bedders underperformed, with an ROI of around –3 per cent over the period. In contrast, the four-bedders showed positive annualised gains of 1.73 per cent, suggesting stronger demand for larger units within the development.

Neighbouring Marina Bay Residences and Marina One Residences generally commanded the highest price psf, while The Sail maintained more moderate pricing, making it a potentially better fit for investors prioritising price stability.

One notable detail is that three-bedroom units were more price-stable overall across all four projects. However, while four-bedders were more volatile, that volatility worked in Marina Bay Suites’ favour, with price swings ultimately ending in the green.

On this related note, let’s check the overall quantum and unit sizes:

Average 3-bedroom prices

Average 3-bedroom sizes

Marina Bay Suites has the second-lowest average price among the four projects at $3.1 million, which is around six to 23.5 per cent cheaper than Marina Bay Residences and Marina One. Despite the lower price, Marina Bay Suites units are almost the same size as Marina Bay Residences (difference of around 32 sq. ft. only!) and larger than both Marina One and The Sail.

Because Marina Bay Suites offers a strong size-to-price ratio and well-regarded layouts, one might expect stronger overall performance.

But as we can see, this is not a matter of quality or size. It’s a reflection of market alignment. The data suggests that buyers respond more favourably to the larger four-bedroom units. The three-bedders, while well-sized, may not match the preferences of either investors (who seek lower quantums) or families (who often favour city-fringe or suburban locations). As a result, the three-bedder performance is less about flaws in the project, and more about fit with buyer priorities.

To emphasise this, consider the four-bedders:

Average 4-bedroom prices

Average 4-bedroom sizes

As of 2024, Marina Bay Suites’ four-bedders averaged $4.42 million for units around 2,312 sq. ft. We’d say this is a better size-to-price ratio compared to its peers. 

Marina Bay Residences, with similar unit sizes (2,374 sq. ft), transacted at a much higher average of $6.15 million, while Marina One saw past transactions soar beyond $12 million for penthouse units exceeding 5,000 sq. ft. Even The Sail, with smaller 4-bedders (2,131 sq. ft), was priced closely at $4.25 million.

Overall, the key draw for Marina Bay Suites four-bedders is that they’re comparable in size to nearby alternatives, but have mostly similar price tags. This likely explains the stronger demand and better performance of these larger units. 

We do have to add the small caveat, however, that Marina Bay Suites is located behind The Sail, which could cause a bit of encroachment in the view (this will depend on the specific unit and floor; not all of them will be equally affected). 

Buyers of the larger units here may still see good results, regardless of wider ROI numbers for the whole project.

A quick, qualitative comparison of layouts

Three-bedder layouts

While The Sail and Marina Bay Residences feature more efficient dumbbell configurations, their units tend to be more irregularly shaped, which can affect usable space. In contrast, Marina Bay Suites has more regular layouts, with only the balcony having a non-standard shape (but this isn’t a big deal). The near, squarish layouts allow for more versatile interior design, and fewer issues with furnishing; there are just fewer odd angles to deal with. 

In particular, three-bedders for Marina Bay suites have nicely segregated living and dining zones, and an enclosed kitchen with a service yard, home shelter, and WC. All bedrooms can comfortably accommodate a double bed with two side tables, and the master bedroom includes a walk-in wardrobe.

While Marina One offers a dry-and-wet kitchen split and a modern open concept, its third bedroom is smaller than the others, making Marina Bay Suites a better all-rounder. And while not everyone loves balconies, the balconies for Marina Bay Suites stretch across the living and master bedroom, which differentiates them; this is tangibly more luxurious and uncommon. 

Four-bedder layouts

Marina Bay Suites again offers regular squarish layouts, albeit this time with private lifts. As before, this keeps things clean and symmetrical, and we’d consider it an edge over The Sail and Marina Bay Residences. 

All four bedrooms are generously sized, with three comfortably fitting double beds and two en suite bedrooms for added privacy. The master suite includes a walk-in wardrobe and a bathroom with both a bathtub and a separate shower. 

While Marina One also boasts two en suite rooms and a wet/dry kitchen setup, its units are massive and often priced well above the rest. So, arguably, Marina Bay Suites offers the same utility but without the excessive quantum. 

Finally, let’s quickly check the volume of resale transactions

This has to be read in context with ROI, as resale volumes reflect on market demand, as well as showing how reliable transaction figures are (i.e. if there are too few transactions, one or two outliers can skew the data).

With the exception of Marina One Residences, which saw just 0.86 per cent of its units transacted in 2024, the other Marina Bay projects showed healthy resale volumes. The Sail (4.95 per cent), Marina Bay Residences (7.48 per cent), and Marina Bay Suites (4.07 per cent) all saw a reasonable proportion of units changing hands, which suggests ongoing market interest and active buyer engagement.

Next, let’s look at rental performance, as that affects demand from investors

1-bedroom units

2-bedroom units

3-bedroom units

4-bedroom units

When it comes to rental income potential, Marina Bay Suites is not really a higher performer – the only notable quirk is that its larger units are also performing a bit better for rental. 

Three-bedders at Marina Bay Suites posted a rental yield of 3.68 per cent in 2024, trailing Marina Bay Residences (4.01 per cent) but close to Marina One and The Sail (3.09 per cent. Its four-bedders, though, saw a rental yield of 3.79 per cent, which outperformed all its peers, including Marina Bay Residences (3.53 per cent) and The Sail (3.25 per cent). 

Overall, the numbers suggest rental performance isn’t the reason for Marina Bay Suites’ weaker ROI. Its rental yields may not be exceptional, but they’re also not underperforming; more a case of steady, unremarkable returns rather than red flags.

Conclusion:

Despite the prime location, District 1 condos have consistently underperformed compared to the broader market; often by a notable margin. This reflects on an issue inherent to the area, and not to Marina Bay Suites specifically. 

From speaking to agents on the ground, the consensus is one of grassroots connections. Very few Singaporeans can say they grew up in District 1, and in the Marina area specifically. It’s very different from a heartland neighbourhood like Bishan, Bedok, Jurong, etc., where you may have friends and family there, or went to school there. 

So, a common reason why many locals don’t buy around Marina Bay is simply that they don’t hang out there. Their friends are far off in the fringes, there are no schools nearby, and their children’s friends are probably elsewhere too. This is likely the main reason for the lower demand and lower ROI, rather than Marina Bay Suites being somehow “bad.”

In addition, there are factors of timing, as we’ve shown above. For example, we showed that among the four key developments in Marina Bay, The Sail @ Marina Bay has shown the strongest price growth since launch – but the ROI doesn’t reflect “superiority” to Marina Bay Suites, just an earlier entry at a lower price, allowing more room for appreciation.

At Marina Bay Suites, performance has been more nuanced. From 2019 to 2024, its three-bedders saw declining prices, while its four-bedders held up far better, even outperforming peers in both price stability and rental yield. In fact, Marina Bay Suites recorded the lowest average price psf in 2024, despite being the second-newest project. 

Coupled with its larger unit sizes and well-regarded layouts, this makes its overall price quantum one of the more accessible options in the area. This case study shows how raw ROI figures don’t always reflect product quality, and if anything, it may even reflect on Marina Bay Suites being a rather underrated condo. 

While most buyers are focused on headline ROI figures, you now understand why that can be misleading, especially in high-density urban enclaves like Marina Bay.

It’s not about chasing the highest percentage return. It’s about spotting value where layout, livability, and long-term rentability are often overlooked.

Curious how these principles apply to your own upgrading plans or investment goals? Let’s chat — we’re happy to walk you through the data and options that suit your situation best.

For more insights on the upcoming case studies, stay with us on Stacked Pro, as we look into Forest Woods, Rivergate, and Kingsford Hillview Peak.