11,800 people walked through the Thomson Reserve showflat over its first weekend, 17 and 18 October. The developers say no preview has drawn more this year. Bookings open on Saturday 31 October.
If you are one of them, you probably have a list of questions. Is the price fair? Which unit suits my family? Which stack? Will my child get into Ai Tong? How easy is it to live here, with or without a car? We went through each one.
About the Project
UOL Group, its subsidiary Singapore Land Group and CapitaLand Development are redeveloping the old Thomson View on Bright Hill Drive, which they bought en bloc in November 2024 for S$810m. The new project has 1,268 units in six towers on a 5 hectare site beside Upper Thomson MRT. Four towers are 21 storeys (the Classic Collection) and two are 30 storeys (the Luxury Collection, with private lifts for the biggest units). The towers take up about 12% of the land. The lease is a fresh 99 years from July 2026, and keys are expected in early 2031.
| Type | Size (sq ft) | Units | Starting price |
| 2-bedroom | 592 | 100 | S$1.544m (S$2,608 psf) |
| 2-bedroom premium | 678 | 416 | S$1.772m (S$2,613 psf) |
| 2-bedroom premium + study | 732 and 775 | 200 | S$1.925m (S$2,630 psf) |
| 3-bedroom | 947 | 120 | S$2.503m (S$2,643 psf) |
| 3-bedroom premium | 1,055 | 170 | S$2.777m (S$2,633 psf) |
| 3-bedroom premium + study | 1,152 | 60 | not released |
| 4-bedroom | 1,238 | 90 | S$3.388m (S$2,737 psf) |
| 4-bedroom premium, private lift | 1,367 and 1,485 | 84 | not released |
| 5-bedroom suite, private lift | 1,808 | 28 | not released |
Is the price fair?
Against the condos around it, Thomson Reserve looks pricey, as it should be.
| Project | Lease from | Resale psf, last 12 months | Thomson Reserve’s starting psf is |
| Thomson Three | 2012 | S$2,155 | 21% higher |
| Thomson Impressions | 2015 | S$2,130 | 22% higher |
| JadeScape | 2018 | S$2,318 | 13% higher |
| AMO Residence | 2021 | S$2,531 | 3% higher |
Most of that gap is the price of being new. Last month we measured it across about 43,000 condo resales. A condo about ten years old sells for 22% to 27% less than a new one in the same area. At about four years old, the gap is 8% to 13%. In its first year or two, about 3%.
Thomson Three, roughly ten years old, sits 17% below Thomson Reserve’s starting price. JadeScape, about four years old, sits 11% below. AMO Residence, just completed, sits 3% below. The starting price is almost exactly where the age discount says it should be.
The gap is even smaller than it looks. Since June 2023, new projects can no longer count air-con ledges and empty voids in the area you buy. Thomson Three, JadeScape and AMO were planned under the old rules, so part of their square footage is ledge. On usable space, their psf is a little higher than the table shows.
The land tells the same story. The developers paid S$1,178 psf of allowed floor area, and that already includes the premium to the state for a fresh 99-year lease. Across the 21 state land sites sold since 2023, land has made up 39% to 50% of the launch price. Here it is 45% of the starting price. That is normal pricing.
The next launch nearby will cost more. In September, Eco World paid S$1,612 psf for a small site on Lorong Puntong, opposite Ai Tong School. At the same 39% to 50% land share, it has to sell at roughly S$3,200 to S$4,100 psf. And Penrith in Queenstown, built on land that cost almost the same as Thomson Reserve’s (S$1,154 psf), has averaged S$2,797 psf since October 2025. So don’t expect Thomson Reserve’s average to stay at S$2,608. We expect it to end up nearer S$2,750 once the higher floors and better stacks are counted.
What did buyers of the last launches on this MRT line make?
| Project | Launched | Launch psf | Resale psf, last 12 months | Change |
| AMO Residence | Jul 2022 | S$2,112 | S$2,531 | +20% |
| Lentor Modern | Sep 2022 | S$2,117 | S$2,403 | +14% |
| Lentor Hills Residences | Jul 2023 | S$2,101 | S$2,264 | +8% |
Decent, in a market that kept rising. Take off about 3% for buyer’s stamp duty and 1% to 2% to sell, and the newness premium you pay up front eats into it. A Thomson Reserve buyer at S$2,608 psf would need about S$3,100 psf by 2031 to match AMO’s rate of return.
Which unit fits your household?
The layouts are efficient. Rooms are rectangular and open off short passages instead of long corridors, ceilings are 2.85m, and balconies are a modest 6% to 7% of each unit. Under the 2023 rules you are no longer paying for air-con ledges. The trade-off is that every common bedroom, from the 2-bedroom to the 4-bedroom, is about 8.8 sq m (95 sq ft) and 2.47m wide. That fits a single or super single bed, a wardrobe and a small desk. It is fine for a primary school child, snug for a teenager, and tight for a queen bed.
A couple buying their first home. The 592 sq ft 2-bedroom (S$1.544m) is a dumbbell layout, with the bedrooms on opposite sides of the living room. It has only one bathroom, with doors to both the master bedroom and the hallway, so everyone shares it. Fine for a couple, awkward with a guest or a lodger. For S$228,000 more, the 678 sq ft 2-bedroom premium (S$1.772m) adds a second bathroom beside the second bedroom. That extra bathroom is what tenants and the next buyer will want, which matters because this is the most common unit in the project.
A couple planning a baby, or working from home. The 2-bedroom premium + study starts at S$1.925m and comes in two versions. In the 732 sq ft unit, the 5.2 sq m study sits next to the master bedroom by the balcony, which makes it a handy nursery. In the 775 sq ft unit, an open study sits by the front door, which suits a home office.
A family with one or two children at Ai Tong. This is the buyer the project is built for, and the choice comes down to whether you have a helper. The 947 sq ft 3-bedroom (S$2.503m) has no yard, no helper’s toilet, and a living and dining strip about 3m wide. It works for a family of four without a helper. With a helper, you need the 1,055 sq ft 3-bedroom premium, which adds a 3.9 sq m household shelter that doubles as a helper’s room, a yard and a toilet off it. It starts at S$2.777m, S$274,000 more. The 1,152 sq ft version adds a study only about 1.4m across, enough for a desk.
Three generations under one roof. Skip the 1,238 sq ft 4-bedroom. Four bedrooms share two bathrooms, with three of them sharing one. The 1,367 sq ft 4-bedroom premium is the real multi-generation unit. The master and a junior master each have their own bathroom, apart from the two smaller bedrooms, so grandparents and parents each get privacy, and it has a private lift. The 1,808 sq ft 5-bedroom suite adds a fifth bedroom, four bathrooms and a 24 sq m kitchen with an island, for families moving down from a landed home nearby.
An investor. If you must, the 678 sq ft 2-bedroom premium is the one to own. Two bathrooms let you rent to two sharers. But it is also the unit with 416 identical copies, so you will compete with your neighbours on rent now and on price when you sell. Two-bedrooms of about 750 sq ft in Thomson Three and Thomson Impressions rent for S$3,800 to S$3,900 a month. On a S$1.772m unit, that is roughly 2.6% gross, with no rent at all until 2031.
Which stack should you pick?
Here the trade-off is sharper than at most launches. The stacks with the views get the afternoon sun.
The view stacks. The big draw is the outlook over the landed estate towards MacRitchie and the Lower Peirce greenery. The developers’ own site plan puts them on the south-west side, facing Upper Thomson Road. That means the afternoon sun comes straight into the living room, which shows up in your air-con bill. Higher floors get the view without the landed homes in front, and the 30-storey Luxury towers see furthest.
The no-sun stacks. In the two Luxury towers, the stacks that face down the central pool and landscaping run north-south and avoid the afternoon sun. Several look across up to about 240m of garden. You trade the reserve view for a cooler home.
The road. Upper Thomson Road runs along one side of the site. Block 3 sits only about 24m back from it, Block 9 about 60m and Block 1 about 81m. Low floors in Block 3 will hear the traffic.
The close neighbours. A handful of stacks in Blocks 5, 9 and 11 face Thomson Three or the Sin Ming HDB blocks, some about 26m from the boundary. Less privacy, and they should be the cheapest stacks. For a family who cares more about the school than the view, they could be the best value.
What a higher floor is worth. In the three neighbouring condos, units on the 16th floor and above have resold for 8% to 11% more per sq ft than units on floors 1 to 5 since 2024. When the full price list comes out on 31 October, check how much more the developer charges for height. Much more than about 10%, and you are paying above what the resale market has given back.
If the monastery and crematorium nearby matter to you (more on that below), check what you see from the Luxury towers, which stand at the Sin Ming Avenue end closest to them.
Will your child get into Ai Tong?
Ai Tong School is about 500m from the site, so every block should be within 1km. It is the only primary school that close. The next nearest are Catholic High’s primary section, for boys, at about 1.6km and Ang Mo Kio Primary at about 1.7km. Both fall within 2km, which still gives you priority after the 1km group.
Ai Tong is popular. In each of the last three years, Phase 2C was balloted even among Singaporean children living within 1km. In 2026 there were 40 places for 76 applicants. In 2025, 43 places for 81 applicants. For a family inside 1km, that has been roughly a coin flip.
Two things change the odds from 2027. Ai Tong is not one of the 12 schools where MOE removes the 1km priority, so living here still counts. And Phase 2C places rise from 40 to 60 at most schools. If demand stayed where it is, the odds within 1km would improve to about four in five.
But demand will not stay where it is. Thomson Reserve itself adds 1,268 homes inside 1km, and the Lorong Puntong project adds about 140 more right opposite the school. If even one household in 30 here has a child reaching Primary 1 in a given year, that is about 40 more applicants, and it puts the odds back near a coin flip. Our point is not the exact number. Buying here improves your chances. It does not secure a place.
Timing matters too. Keys are expected in early 2031, and MOE requires your child to live at the registration address for 30 months. A child starting Primary 1 in 2032 registers in mid-2031, after keys. If your child starts in 2031 or earlier, ask MOE how it treats the address of a home that is not yet completed before you count on it.
What is around you?
Distances here are straight lines from the middle of the site, so the walk is a little longer.
Groceries and shopping. Thomson Plaza is across Upper Thomson Road, about 200m away and linked underground through the MRT station. It has a FairPrice Finest on the third floor, which covers the weekly shop. For a bigger mall, Junction 8 in Bishan is about 2km away and AMK Hub about 2.5km.
Food. The restaurants and cafes along Upper Thomson Road are about five minutes’ walk. What you won’t find close by is a government hawker centre. The nearest, Shunfu Mart, is about 860m away, and the Kebun Baru food centres in Ang Mo Kio are about 1.5km. Cheap daily meals will mostly mean the coffeeshops around Sin Ming and Upper Thomson.
Health. Two CHAS clinics are within about 700m. Mount Alvernia Hospital, a private hospital with a 24-hour walk-in clinic, is about 1.8km down Thomson Road. Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic is about 2.6km away and Tan Tock Seng Hospital about 4km.
Young children. There are 12 preschools within 800m, so you will not struggle for a place before Primary 1.
Older children. Raffles Institution and Catholic High in Bishan are about 1.6km away, and Eunoia Junior College in Sin Ming about 1.3km. Secondary school places go by PSLE score, not distance, but a short trip to school matters for a 13-year-old.
Parks and sport. This is where the address shines. Windsor Nature Park is about 1km away, Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park about 1.2km, Lower Peirce Reservoir about 1.5km and MacRitchie about 1.7km. The Bishan sports hall and swimming complex are about 2.2km away.
What some buyers will want to know. The Bright Hill columbarium and crematorium, part of the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery grounds, is about 700m from the site. It doesn’t affect daily life much, but some buyers care, and it will come up when you sell.
How easy is it to get around?
Without a car. Upper Thomson MRT on the Thomson-East Coast Line is a two to three minute walk, and the developers say a sheltered walkway links it to the site. From there, Orchard is five stops and the Shenton Way business district is about ten. Caldecott, one stop south, connects to the Circle Line for one-north and Holland Village. Bright Hill, one stop north, becomes an interchange with the Cross Island Line when its first phase opens around 2030. North on the same line, Woodlands North is the Singapore end of the Johor Bahru RTS Link, now due to start in February 2027. Families who cross to JB often will find that handy.
With a car. There are 1,021 parking lots for 1,268 homes, about four for every five. Most 2-bedroom owners won’t need one, but a family with two cars should ask how season parking is allocated. Upper Thomson Road runs straight south into Thomson Road and town, and the North-South Corridor, opening in stages from 2029, adds another expressway route nearby.
What will it cost you to hold?
Banks test a home loan at 4% interest and cap repayments at 55% of income. On a 75% loan over 30 years, this is what you need to earn.
| Unit | Price | Monthly household income needed |
| 2-bedroom, starting price | S$1.544m | about S$10,100 |
| 2-bedroom premium, starting price | S$1.772m | about S$11,500 |
| 3-bedroom, starting price | S$2.503m | about S$16,300 |
| 3-bedroom premium, starting price | S$2.777m | about S$18,100 |
| 4-bedroom, starting price | S$3.388m | about S$22,100 |
HDB upgraders have one more hurdle. A married couple who still own their flat pay 20% additional buyer’s stamp duty up front, and get it back only if they sell the flat within six months of the condo’s completion. On a S$2.503m 3-bedroom, that is S$500,600 in cash parked with IRAS for about four years.
Ask the developer for the estimated maintenance fee. A big estate spreads the cost of upkeep over many owners, but eight pools and three clubhouses are a lot to maintain.
Should Be a Hot Project
We think more than half of the 1,268 units sell on 31 October. ParkTown Residence in Tampines drew 10,000 visitors to its preview and sold 1,041 of 1,193 units on its launch weekend in February 2025, at an average of S$2,360 psf. Thomson Reserve drew more people to a better location, at higher prices.
For a family with young children who will live here for ten years or more, S$2,608 psf is a fair price for a rare site, and the next new launch nearby will cost noticeably more. Pick the unit for your household, not the view, and weigh the afternoon sun before you pay for it. If you want to sell at completion or rent it out, the numbers are thin.
