Why I Bought A 2-Bedroom Condo For My Retirement Despite Thinking Singapore Property Was Too Expensive: A Buyer’s Case Study

This case study is based on a recent consultation conducted by Norman (R015193B), a property agent and partner property consultant with Stacked. This write-up walks through the key decisions, trade-offs, and market considerations involved, with insights that buyers and sellers may find useful.

When this buyer first approached the Stacked Consultancy team, she was regularly shuttling between Singapore and Hong Kong, where she was based for work. At the same time, she was also looking to purchase a property in Singapore where she could settle down for her retirement, which she was looking forward to in a couple of years.

After being based abroad for her work, she was looking forward to returning to Singapore for good and spending more time with her family here. She had just sold a freehold condominium in District 10 and planned to use the funds to purchase a smaller property in River Valley.

Located in the Core Central Region (CCR), she felt that this city-centre district offered relatively affordable private home prices that suited her budget and future needs. In general, condos in the River Valley area offer a comfortable entry price for buyers looking for a home in the CCR.

When she started her property search in the second half of 2025, a series of new launch projects had thrown a spotlight on the CCR market. The government had awarded several prime development sites, which resulted in projects like River Green and Promenade Peak.

But she was not in a hurry and decided to focus on selling her existing property without first securing a replacement property.

Understanding the Market

At first, the buyer did not have a definitive budget during her first engagement with Norman Koh, a Stacked partner agent and consultant. Instead, she offered a wishlist of what she hoped to have in a property for her retirement.

“After selling her freehold condo in District 10, she had ample funds but felt that property prices in that district were too high for her to buy a similarly sized property,” says Koh.

He shares that he initially offered her a useful overview of the property market at the time, highlighting useful information that might benefit her property search, such as the overall direction of the private residential market and prevailing price trends.

“It was also important for me to understand her purpose, risk appetite and objective for buying a property before I could help her to determine which options are truly suitable for her at this stage of life,” he says, adding that he also wanted to provide her with a deeper understanding of the comparable prices so as to guide her towards a more informed decision.

At the time, most of the buying attention in the primary market was on the CCR, where several already-launched and upcoming projects were in the spotlight.

The first half of 2025 saw exceptionally strong take-up rates among new projects in the Outside Central Region (OCR). As a result, most buyers looking for a new home were focused on the new CCR projects, or were considering the limited resale options as sellers were hedging due to the high cost of replacement properties.

But it was only in the latter half of the year that this client felt comfortable to schedule her property viewings. By then, there was a much clearer picture of the new projects making waves in the CCR market, with nearly all of them in the River Valley district.

Since the client had no source of recurring income in Singapore at the time, and she was largely out of touch with the local property market, this gave rise to some concern and hesitation as she contended with the property prices and projects available at the time.

“Back then, she felt that the current choices on the market were not within her budget, and the upcoming launches were not in locations where she could see herself living. Thus, it took some time to narrow down a suitable list of options,” says Koh.

One of the new projects at the time was Zyon Grand, an integrated development by City Developments Ltd (CDL) which was located along Kim Seng Road. This project was unique in that it was the first new private residential development to incorporate a long-stay residence called Service Apartments II (SA2), an initiative introduced by the government in 2023. Zyon Grand comprises three towers: two 62-storey residential blocks, and a 36-storey building dedicated to the long-stay SA2 apartments.

Taking into account the area’s upcoming developments and enhanced infrastructure projects taking shape in the vicinity, there was a good chance that the private residential market in that part of River Valley was on track to benefit from an uplift in property values, says Koh, adding: “This made it an opportune time to buy into the area before prices get even higher”.

He shared all of his findings with the client, helping her understand the context of the River Valley market and his thoughts on the area’s future trajectory. This helped her adopt a mid-term holding approach to refine her house hunting journey.

Comparing the options

After having grown up in District 10, the buyer was looking for a home in such a central location that could also provide a similar level of accessibility to areas like Orchard Road and other parts of the town.

While prioritising a need for public transport connectivity and long-term flexibility for her own-stay needs, she also wanted to keep her options open and have the ability to readily rent out the unit if she wanted to in the future.

By the time October 2025 came around, Koh had shortlisted several projects for her to view, including Promenade Peak, Zyon Grand, River Green, and Robertson Opus.

At Promenade Peak, the client viewed the two-bedroom unit but came away with mixed feelings. While she liked the kitchen which came with premium European-brand fittings, she found that the study and entrance foyer area took up too much of the unit’s usable space.

Next, was River Green where she considered the two-bedroom units, but ultimately felt that they were too small for her preference and were priced at a relatively high quantum.

She eventually came to Zyon Grand. It had the benefit of being the only new launch project that was an integrated development, and had entered the market after the launch of River Green and Promenade Peak. The project was well-received when it launched for sale, moving 590 (84%) out of its 706 units during the initial sales weekend. Most market watchers attributed the strong take-up rate to buyers’ confidence in the location and the developers’ track record.

With its direct connection to Havelock MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line, this suited the buyer’s preference for convenient access to public transport. She also liked the proximity to amenities such as Great World City and Zion Food Centre. 

Of the three types of two-bedders available at Zyon Grand, the buyer chose a 721 sq ft two-bedroom premium + study (Type BP2s) unit. The layout comes in a dumbbell configuration, which most buyers feel is a more space efficient design.

A table showing the three types of two-bedroom units available at Zyon Grand, and some of their attributes.

When the client went to view the project, she liked how she was able to see the view from the balcony when she entered the unit. She also liked the large-format porcelain tiles used for the living areas, commenting that these do not trap dirt as easily, and the bedrooms’ vinyl flooring for the ease of maintenance.

Since she had plans to live alone, the compact size of the kitchen also suited her expectation that she would only be doing light cooking. Instead of an enclosed kitchen, she also felt that the L-shaped kitchen, which opens into the dining area, felt more spacious.

Final Outcome

After weighing the costs of purchasing a new launch over the limited resale options in the prime River Valley area, the buyer eventually opted for the unit at Zyon Grand. 

After her first viewing in October, she flew back to Singapore for a second viewing the following month, which ended in her decision to purchase a two-bedroom plus study unit. This relatively swift timeline was supported by multiple prior Zoom consultations with Koh, where he contributed his expertise in terms of market trends, layout comparisons, and property valuations.

Some of the comparisons that Koh helped to guide the buyer through included comparing the 657 sq ft two-bedroom unit at River Green, which is much smaller than the similarly priced 721 sq ft unit at two-bedroom premium + study unit at Zyon Grand. They also closely examined the two-bedder options at Promenade Peak, which the client ultimately felt that the layout was not to her preference.

Although there were preliminary discussions about using her investment portfolios to secure a loan from a bank, the buyer eventually decided to purchase her choice of unit at Zyon Grand unit fully in cash. This eliminated the stress of monthly mortgage payments that she would have to face.

Recalling this deal, Koh shares that when buyers hesitate to commit to a decision, it is usually due to a lack of knowledge of the market fundamentals. “Bearing in mind her considerations, I walked her through what has been happening in the property market here and the direction it was moving towards to help her gain awareness and deeper understanding of comparable prices,” he says.

Guidance like this armed this buyer with the confidence to make an informed decision of what she was looking for and could comfortably afford, as a retirement property.