NEW LAUNCH REVIEWS
NORMANTON PARK
Considering Normanton Park as your next home or investment property?
Check out our unbiased analysis of this newly launched Condominium in 2021!
OUR VIDEO
REVIEW
Scroll down for our full review of Normanton Park!
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Location | Development | Pricing | Rental Yield | Stack Selection | Ask Us!
Location & Connectivity
When we discuss the location factor, we look closely at the landscape, accessibility and area transformation.
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Landscape
“Perched atop undulating grounds of Kent Ridge Park, Normanton Park will likely become a distinctive feature of the island-state’s southern skyline. All residential towers are elevated 19 metres above ground level to possibly maximise views of the city, lush surrounds or Southern Islands."
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Located near Kent Ridge Park and looking across the Southern coastline, Normanton Park boasts both spectacular greenery and water views. ‘Bad’ views are unlikely from the units at Normanton Park — at higher floors, you should be able to get great, unblocked views no matter which cardinal direction the unit is facing. You can pick a unit with either a city view, greenery view or waters view. As there is low residential density in the immediate area due to under supply, the estate should not feel too busy or crowded. With Kent Ridge Park located just behind the development, it makes an ideal destination for strolls or activities on the weekend, enhancing your family lifestyle.
Accessibility
Being well-connected to the AYE and CTE, it is a short drive away to the CBD and Orchard area. The closest MRT station from Normanton Park would be Kent Ridge Station, and it is a short 3-min shuttle away (or 2 bus stops away). Perhaps one of the cons would be the walking distance of 14 min if you choose to walk to the train station, so do take note of this when factoring in your travel times. Then again, the developer is providing a free 2 year shuttle service to Kent Ridge MRT station and Buona Vista MRT station. Furthermore, Normanton Park is well within walking distance of the vibrant business hubs nearby, including Fusionopolis, Biopolis, Mediapolis, One-North Business Park and Science Park. If you are working in that area, or planning to rent the unit out to working professionals, the convenient access to these business hubs definitely is a plus point itself.
As for amenities in the area, you may need to drive or take a bus to the nearest food centre or shopping mall. Do note that there are 8 commercial units in Normanton Park that may be able to meet your daily needs. Otherwise, a few minutes’ drive will be able to take you to malls such as Queensway Shopping Centre, IKEA, Vivo City and The Star Vista. There are a few food places around Science Park 1 which are within walking distance, and popular dining places such as Timbre+ and Alexandra Village Food Centre are 2-3 bus stops away.
A number of good schools are close by as well, including Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), Anglo-Chinese Junior College and National University of Singapore, which are just within 5-10 minutes’ bus ride or drive away.
Area Transformation
It is also worth noting that the upcoming developments in the area will make Normanton Park even more attractive. Normanton Park is located in between two ongoing transformations — the Greater Southern Waterfront transformation, as well as the Greater One North transformation, which is definitely closer to the project.
Since 2001, the government has been pumping in great amounts of funds into our technological and innovation industries. In fact, from 2020 onwards, they will be putting $25billion into R&D over the next 5 years (RIE2025) and the One-North cluster will definitely be the focus of our technological research and advancement. With this transformation, it is estimated that approximately 120,000 jobs will be added, with big names like Walt Disney, Razer, Grab already setting up their headquarters there. Additionally, Normanton Park is located near the established technology and innovation R&D clusters, Science Parks I and II.
All these will create high demand for housing in the area. As the locality currently only has a supply of about 2075 units, there is limited supply to satisfy upcoming demand. Even with Normanton Park factored in, with less than 4000 units in the area, there is more likely to be an under-supply of housing available there.
development quality & facilities
The developer of Normanton Park is Kingsford Huray. In 2019, Kingsford Huray was hit with a no-sale license by the Urban Redevelopment Authority due to one of their past projects’ building works deviating from certain requirements under the Building Control Act and Regulations. However, in end-2020, URA awarded Kingsford Huray a sale license for Normanton Park after Kingsford Huray proved that they met required conditions.
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Source: 99.co
What does this mean, and why is this information important?
For Kingsford Huray to receive the sale license, ALL units within the condominium must go through a quality check. The Quality Mark assessment measures the quality of workmanship in every dwelling unit of a newly completed private residential project. This practice is unlike the usual inspection process for new launch condominiums, where only some of the units chosen at random are inspected. This means that you can rest assured of the quality of the building works in Normanton Park, regardless of the unit you are going for.
What about facilities?
With nature as the focus, the manicured lawns and aquatic features blend well into the entire landscape of its green corridors and a tranquil lake outside the development. The facilities are largely nature-themed, and there are a total of 110 facilities for residents to enjoy. These include a 150m pool overlooking waterfront lawn, 50m lap pool, many other family and kids pools, tennis courts, basketball courts, fitness corners, lawns and pavilions and even 8 commercial shops. For all these facilities, the range of maintenance fee from $225 for One Bedders to $360 for Terrace Houses, is considered reasonably low, especially for a Rest of Central Region (RCR) property.
It is also worth noting that it seems like there will be a rather spacious block-to-block distance. Having considerable block-to-block distance is important as this means more privacy and space for residents.
COMPETITIVE
PRICING
The pricing for One Normanton Park is around $1700-$1800 psf. In our analysis, this is actually an attractive pricing, and we will explain why below.
There is generally a lack of supply and competitors in the One-North area. Within the surrounding area, there are only 4 existing condominium projects, namely One-North Residences (TOP 2009), The Rochester Residences (TOP 2011), Heritage View (TOP 2000) and Dover Parkview (TOP 1997), as highlighted on our map above. All four condominiums account for 2075 total units in the region. These are all older condominiums, with prices ranging from average $11xx - 15xx psf, so they may not be a good comparison of prices.
The only closest competitor to Normanton Park, that is new, would be Kent Ridge Hill Residences (TOP 2022). Prices are recently going at around $19xx psf, even though Kent Ridge Hill Residences is located further down south past Kent Ridge Park and is slightly further away from the One-North Cluster. Considering the fact that both Normanton Park and Kent Ridge Hill Residences are quite a distance away from the MRT, but with Normanton Park being much closer to the Greater One-North business hubs and Science Park I clusters, it would be expected that Normanton Park makes a more preferable choice to buyers and tenants.
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Therefore, we were originally expecting Normanton Park prices to be higher or at least matching that of Kent Ridge Hill Residences. However, to our surprise, the average pricing is around $17xx-18xx psf. We believe Normanton Park is priced to sell — the pricing is undoubtedly attractive, not only as a competitor to Kent Ridge Hill Residences, but generally as an RCR project in an area slated for major transformation.
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Examples of some RCR projects that are currently still selling are Park Colonial (Potong Pasir Area) at $19xx psf and Woodleigh Residences at $19xx-23xx psf. The recently fully-sold The Linq (Upper Bukit Timah) was priced at $20xx -23xxpsf. As compared to these projects, Normanton Park stands out further, as future growth from the Greater One North transformation and Greater Southern Waterfront transformation are certainly more exciting and provide higher potential for the projects in the area.
POTENTIAL
RENTAL YIELD
Potential rental yield is an important factor that you should not overlook, especially if you are getting the property for investment purposes. Even if the property is for own stay, you should not eliminate the possibility of renting your unit out in the future. We have analysed projects in the area and estimated the rental yield to be at a conservative figure of 3.2 - 3.5%.
As mentioned in the above discussion points, you should know by now that there is a significantly huge tenant pool in the area coming from the working professionals from the One-North business clusters and Science Park. However, that is not all. National University Hospital and Alexandra Hospital are also a few bus stops away, and this further captures the tenant pool of medical staff. For schools, National University and the famous Tanglin Trust School (a British International School) are close by, and this means there are foreign students in the area as well.
With such a huge and varied tenant pool, this is exactly the reason why the 4 existing condominiums in the Greater One-North cluster have each individually achieved impressive rental volumes. 24-29% of the units at the older condominiums (Heritage View and Dover Parkview) and 43- 45% of the units at the slightly newer ones (The Rochester Residences and One-North Residences) were rented out in a span of just one year.
We estimate the potential rental yield of Normanton Park to be between 3.2 - 3.5%, conservatively. Let’s take a look at some transacted examples. For projects such as One-North Residences and The Rochester Residences, which will be at least 11-14 years older than Normanton Park (when it TOP in 2023 / 2024), their 1 bedroom rental ranges between $2500 - 3600/month. Although they are closer to the MRT station than Normanton Park, newer condominiums are usually able to achieve higher rentals as compared to those that are older. However, even if we were to conservatively assume a rental of $2500/month rental for a 500 sqft unit in Normanton Park, we can still achieve 3.2-3.5% rental yield based on average prices. Such rental yield is hard to come by these days.
stack
selection
(Click image to magnify)
When it comes to selecting your unit, you have to first choose the stack/block you want. Generally, there are some key factors that you need to take note of:
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View from the stack
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North-South-East-West facing / Cardinal direction. For example, you might want to avoid West Sun.
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Noise level. If you are concerned about any potential noise, avoid facing the expressway, carpark, tennis court, bin centres etc. Even if the block faces any potential source of noise, consider the distance between the block and the source.
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Block-to-block distance
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Layout efficiency. This is more of the unit itself. Ensure there is no wasted space, no irregular layout or corners, good wall-to-wall distance etc.
So, which stacks do we think are best for each unit type in Normanton Park, based on the provided site plan?
4-Bedroom:
We think Stack 41 would be the best, mainly due to the view, although it may experience slight West Sun. If you mind West Sun, you may consider Stack 42. Stack 42 faces the interior of the development, but there is great block-to-block distance which enhances your privacy.
3-Bedroom Compact:
We think Stack 11 would be the best. If you prefer sea view, Stack 11 may have the clearest South view without being too close to another stack, as long as you choose a unit from the higher floors. You may also consider Stacks 14 and 23 for the same view, but note that the view may be slightly blocked.
If facility view is your thing, then Stack 33 is pretty good as well, with generous block-to-block distance and possibly even pocket views of the city.
3-Bedroom Premium:
We think Stacks 20 and 29 would be the best if you prefer unblocked view and possibly sea view. However, there may be some West Sun coming in at a slight angle. If West Sun bothers you, you may consider Stack 46 as it has one of the greatest block-to-block distances of 210m.
2-Bedroom Compact:
We think Stacks 47, 49 and 51 provide generally good views, although there may be slight West Sun. If you want to avoid West Sun, you may consider block 61, 45 and 47.
2-Bedroom Premium:
We think Stacks 39 and 40 would be the best for unblocked sea view. Again, if you want to avoid West Sun, you may consider Stacks 1, 2, 7 and 8. Although these blocks face the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), the distance away from AYE is 105m, which is actually far.
2-Bedroom with Study:
We think Stack 10 would be the best, as it seems to provide a view of the city skyline, with greenery in the foreground and there is also no West Sun. You may also consider Stack 28, which faces the facilities with no West Sun coming in.
For Normanton Park, most of the stacks seem to have good facing. It is likely that your unit will have a view of either the city skyline, greenery such as Kent Ridge Park, the Southern coastline / sea view (for possibly 15 floors and above), or facilities view. Even if you are facing the facilities or the inner landscape of the project, there is great block-to-block distance between stacks, and that minimizes the possibility of a stack blocking your view. Furthermore, one bonus point is that the bin centre and electrical substation at Normanton Park are all separated from the blocks, meaning there are no units directly facing them. Based on all these points, we have assigned a high score for the stack selection at Normanton Park.
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