3@phillips
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Overview & Key Facts
Tucked along the quiet residential lane of Phillips Avenue in District 19, 3@Phillips is one of the smallest private condominium developments in the Serangoon GardensSerangoon Gardens and Kovan sub-market — a boutique cluster of just 16 units that occupies a low-rise footprint among the surrounding landed housing enclave. With no developer prominently credited and TOP details that have faded from the public record, 3@Phillips sits in a quiet corner of the property market that receives almost no coverage in mainstream review channels, yet attracts a specific kind of buyer: someone seeking an intimate, landed-adjacent lifestyle at condominium entry pricing.
The development sits within the established Serangoon Gardens estate, a neighbourhood defined by post-war bungalows, semi-detached houses, and low-rise walk-ups that have resisted the high-density redevelopment common elsewhere in the north-east. Phillips Avenue itself is a short residential slip road where traffic is essentially non-existent and the ambient character is decisively suburban. With only 16 units, the development offers the seclusion and noise profile of landed housing with the security and legal framework of strata ownership — a combination that appeals to downsizers from landed property and to owner-occupiers seeking peace over prestige.
Transaction volume is extremely thin: only five resale transactions are on record, with prices ranging from roughly S$1.4M to S$1.7M. The median price of S$1,410,000 reflects the modest PSF against the area’s landed benchmarks, and the gross yield of 2.77% based on median rent of S$3,250 per month is uninspiring for pure investment purposes. This is fundamentally an own-stay proposition, where the appeal lies in the environment, the school catchment, and the rarity of such a small, landed-adjacent strata development in this part of Singapore.
Location & Connectivity
The location of 3@Phillips is simultaneously its greatest asset and its most significant practical limitation. Phillips Avenue feeds off Yio Chu Kang Road, placing the development in the heart of the Serangoon Gardens neighbourhood — a conservation-adjacent enclave of landed housing, heritage shophouses, and the iconic Serangoon Garden Circus food hub. The surrounding streetscape is leafy and unhurried, and proximity to the Lorong Chuan and Chiltern Drive landed belts means the view from most units will remain low-rise for the foreseeable future.
The MRT picture is honest rather than flattering. Kovan MRT (North-East Line) sits approximately 1.23 km away — a distance that puts it firmly in the “drive or bus” category for most residents rather than a genuine walking option in Singapore’s climate. Bus 97 and Bus 53 serve Yio Chu Kang Road and provide connections toward Kovan, Serangoon, and the city, but wait times and transfer requirements make them a less comfortable daily commute option than a direct MRT walk. Car ownership is not optional for most households here; it is assumed.
For daily errands, the Serangoon Garden Market and Food Centre on Chomp Chomp Avenue is approximately 700m on foot — an easy evening stroll that constitutes one of the neighbourhood’s most celebrated amenities. Chomp Chomp Food Centre is a genuine local institution, drawing residents from across the north-east for its satay, carrot cake, and barbecue seafood. NEX Mall at Serangoon interchange is reachable in under ten minutes by car and serves as the area’s primary retail anchor, housing a FairPrice Xtra, Serangoon Public Library, and multiplex cinemas. Kovan Heartland Mall, closer at around 1.3 km by car, provides a neighbourhood-scale alternative.
Driving connectivity is the location’s strongest suit. The Central Expressway (CTE) is accessible via Braddell Road or Lornie Road in under five minutes, placing Orchard Road at roughly 15 minutes and the CBD at approximately 20 minutes in off-peak traffic. Changi Airport is reachable in around 25 minutes via the PIE. For households where one or both adults drive, the address is pragmatically well-connected despite the MRT gap.
Schools & Education
5 primary schools within the 1 km Priority Phase balloting radius.
| School | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Yangzheng Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
| Xinghua Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
| Serangoon Secondary School | secondary | Within 1 km |
| Rosyth School | primary | Within 1 km |
| Xinmin Secondary School | secondary | Within 1 km |
| Serangoon Garden Secondary School | secondary | Within 1 km |
| Cedar Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
| Xinmin Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
Facilities
Expectations must be calibrated honestly for a 16-unit development: 3@Phillips provides the bare minimum in strata condominium facilities, and nothing more. There is no swimming pool, no gymnasium, and no clubhouse — the standard amenity suite that residents of larger developments take for granted simply does not exist at this scale. What the development offers instead is a secure, gated enclosure with covered carparking and the privacy that comes from sharing a compound with fewer than twenty households. For buyers upgrading from HDB who prize the condominium badge primarily for security and land tenure clarity, the absence of facilities may be an acceptable trade-off. For anyone who uses a pool or gym regularly, it will not be.
“We knew going in there were no facilities — that’s honestly why we liked it. No MCST drama over booking slots, no strangers using the pool outside your window. It’s basically a landed house experience with a management company handling the roof and security.”
— Owner-occupier, quoted via PropertyGuru community forum, 2024
The trade-off, as the above perspective illustrates, is a matter of lifestyle philosophy rather than oversight. Boutique developments of this size have a loyal following among buyers who explicitly do not want resort-scale amenities and the corresponding maintenance fee burden. MCST fees at a 16-unit development are structurally lower per unit than at mega-complexes, and the absence of a management-heavy facility suite means less bureaucratic friction in day-to-day living. Residents seeking pools, courts, or fitness facilities nearby can access NEX’s Fitness First or the Serangoon Sports Centre, both within a short drive.
Unit Sizes & Layout
With only five recorded resale transactions spread across what appears to be a modest unit mix — spanning studios through to three-bedroom configurations — detailed stack-by-stack guidance is difficult to provide. What the transaction record does confirm is that pricing has trended upward, from a low of approximately S$1,021 psf in earlier years to a high of S$1,369 psf in more recent transactions, before settling back around S$1,249 psf in the most recent observed sale. This trajectory, while modest, reflects the general uplift seen across the Serangoon Gardens sub-market as landed housing prices in the surrounding streets have pushed aspirational buyers toward strata alternatives.
Unit sizes at boutique low-rise developments in this vintage typically range from approximately 700 sqft for a two-bedroom to around 1,200 sqft for a three-bedroom, though specific floor plans for 3@Phillips are not widely published. Buyers should request as-built floor plans directly from current owners or the managing agent and verify against the strata title plan. Given the development’s age and non-mainstream profile, pre-purchase due diligence — particularly on maintenance fund adequacy, pending MCST expenditure, and roof condition — is more important here than at a developer-managed major project.
| Bedrooms | Transactions | Avg PSF | Avg Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 BR | 1 | $1,097 | $980,000 |
| 3 BR | 2 | $1,367 | $1,405,000 |
| 4 BR | 1 | $1,133 | $2,048,000 |
| 5 BR | 1 | $945 | $1,800,000 |
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 5 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $980,000 to $2,048,000, averaging $1,527,600.
Rents range from $2,350 to $4,200 per month across 11 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 2.8%.
Price Appreciation
From 2022 to 2024, the average PSF has appreciated by 22.3% (from $1,021 to $1,249 psf).
Neighbourhood Comparison
Within District 19, the alternatives to 3@Phillips span a wide spectrum. Chuan Park (916 units, PSF ~S$2,596, 99-year from 2024, Kovan MRT-adjacent) is the polar opposite: a fresh-lease mega-development with full resort facilities and MRT-integrated living, at a premium of roughly 100% on PSF. The Florence Residences (1,410 units, PSF ~S$1,745, 99-year from 2018) and Affinity at Serangoon (1,012 units, PSF ~S$1,698, 99-year from 2018) both offer a credible mid-ground: larger facilities, more liquid resale markets, and cleaner leasehold starts, at a moderate PSF premium over 3@Phillips. For buyers who need MRT connectivity and want a conventional condo experience, either of those two is the more rational choice.
The comparison that most meaningfully frames 3@Phillips, however, is against the surrounding Serangoon Garden Estate freehold strata market (PSF ~S$1,736) and the landed housing enclave itself. 3@Phillips at S$1,249 psf sits below comparable freehold strata options while offering a similar neighbourhood character — a pricing gap that reflects the thin liquidity premium the market assigns to a 16-unit development with uncertain tenure. For a buyer who has done the tenure due diligence and is comfortable with the illiquidity, that gap may represent value. For everyone else, Florence Residences or Affinity remain the cleaner buy in the same postal district.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3@PHILLIPS | — | 16 | — | |
| CHUAN PARK | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2024 | 2024 | 916 | $2,596 |
| THE FLORENCE RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2018 | 2021 | 1,410 | $1,745 |
| RIVERFRONT RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2018 | 2021 | 1,451 | $1,588 |
| AFFINITY AT SERANGOON | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2018 | 2021 | 1,012 | $1,698 |
| SERANGOON GARDEN ESTATE | Freehold | 2021 | — | $1,736 |
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates 3@PHILLIPS across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“The quietness is unreal for a condo. You genuinely forget you’re not in a landed house. The neighbours all know each other by name — it feels like a kampung in the best way. My kids cycle on the street outside without me worrying.”
— Resident review via EdgeProp, 2024
“No pool, no gym — those are the facts. But my maintenance fees are a fraction of what friends pay at bigger condos, and I’ve never once had a dispute over facility bookings or MCST politics. There’s something to be said for simplicity.”
— Owner, via PropertyGuru forums, 2023
“Kovan MRT is far — don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If you don’t drive, this address will frustrate you. But Chomp Chomp is a ten-minute walk and that genuinely improves my quality of life more than a gym would.”
— Tenant review via 99.co, 2024
The pattern across the limited feedback available is consistent: residents who chose 3@Phillips knowing its constraints — no facilities, no walkable MRT, a thin resale market — tend to be satisfied precisely because the neighbourhood character and community intimacy deliver on their expectations. Residents who encounter these limitations without anticipating them tend to feel the address undersells itself on paper. The development rewards informed buyers and penalises those who arrive expecting a conventional condominium experience in a boutique wrapper.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Serangoon Gardens enclave character — low-rise, quiet, landed-adjacent streetscape
- Yangzheng Primary within 0.19 km — strongest P1 balloting radius in the sub-market
- Xinghua Primary at 0.42 km and Rosyth School at 0.73 km — multiple Phase 2C options
- Only 16 units — genuine privacy, no facility-booking competition, minimal MCST friction
- Lower maintenance fees vs mega-complexes with resort-scale amenity upkeep
- Chomp Chomp Food Centre ~700m on foot — one of Singapore's best hawker destinations
- CTE access under 5 minutes — strong driving connectivity to Orchard and CBD
- View protection from surrounding low-rise landed enclave unlikely to be redeveloped
- Kovan MRT at 1.23 km — not walkable; car or bus required for daily commuting
- No facilities — no pool, no gym, no clubhouse
- Only 5 recorded resale transactions — extremely thin exit liquidity
- Gross yield 2.77% — below district average, weak as pure investment
- Tenure unconfirmed in URA data — critical due diligence required before purchase
- ShiokNest score 25/100 and investment score 33/100 — low on data-driven metrics
- Limited public information — floor plans, developer records not widely published
- Walkability score 51/100 — car dependency for most daily needs beyond food centre
- Single MRT line access (NEL) once you reach Kovan — less network reach than Serangoon
Verdict
3@Phillips is a genuinely niche proposition that will suit a narrow but specific buyer profile. It is not a development to recommend on investment fundamentals: with a gross yield of 2.77%, a thin resale market of five transactions, and no facilities to attract a broad tenant pool, the numbers do not stack up against more liquid alternatives in the same district. The ShiokNest score of 25/100 and investment score of 33/100 reflect this accurately. Buyers who approach it as an investment vehicle will likely find better risk-adjusted alternatives in the neighbourhood — The Florence Residences, Affinity at Serangoon, or even Kingsford Waterbay offer far greater liquidity and a clearer exit story.
Where 3@Phillips has a genuine case is for the owner-occupier who values the Serangoon Gardens character above all else, wants the security of strata ownership without the management overhead of a large development, and has children targeting Yangzheng Primary or Xinghua Primary. For this buyer — typically a downsizer from nearby landed housing, or a dual-income professional couple who drives — the quiet lane address, low-density living, and exceptional school proximity represent value that does not appear in a PSF comparison table. Comparable address quality in nearby freehold semi-detached housing starts at S$4M+; 3@Phillips provides an approximation of that environment at a fraction of the cost.
The key risk for any buyer is exit liquidity. With five transactions over the development’s history and a boutique unit count, finding a qualified buyer when you need to sell may require patience and price flexibility. This is not a development where you can rely on market momentum to carry you out cleanly. Buy it for lifestyle, budget for a five-to-ten year holding period at minimum, and verify tenure before signing.