Watertown Condo’s 10-Year Case Study: When Holding Period And Exit Timing Mattered More Than Buying Early

Watertown condo is an interesting case study, as buyers weren’t sure what to expect when it launched in 2012. At the time, many still considered Punggol to be too “ulu” to see good resale gains, and some were sceptical about the impact of Waterway Point as a major recreational/family hub. Still, some buyers were bold and jumped in early, perhaps because of the integrated status and access to Punggol MRT. Let’s see if their decision paid off, compared to those who took longer to decide:

A rundown on Watertown

Watertown is an integrated, leasehold project in Punggol (District 19). It was launched in January 2012 (lease commencement date was 2011), with 992 units.

Average annualised returns throughout the project stand at 1.8%, with an average holding period of 8.2 years.

To examine whether those who bought earlier (or later) saw better gains, we analysed new sales, sub-sales, and resale transactions. We also broke it down into unit types, as the different layouts/sizes can yield different returns.