Amaninda

Overview & Key Facts

Amaninda is a 70-unit freehold boutique condominium at 329 Thomson Road, occupying a quietly leafy stretch of District 11 between Novena and Mount Pleasant — one of Singapore’s most enduringly desirable Core Central Region addresses. Developed by Ho Bee Investment Ltd and completed in 2005, the development is one of the city’s better-preserved examples of Balinese resort-style residential architecture: low-rise six-storey blocks, tropical landscaping, water features, and the deliberate horizontal scale that defined a generation of mid-2000s CCR boutique projects before the verticalising wave of the 2010s. Thomson Road itself runs along the eastern flank of the Mount Pleasant planning area, flanked by mature heritage trees, the Singapore Island Country Club, and the medical precinct that has quietly densified into Health City Novena.

With only 70 units, Amaninda sits firmly in the boutique-freehold class that increasingly defines the scarcity premium in CCR resale. Transaction records show meaningful appreciation across the tracked window: from approximately S$1,519 psf at the earliest data point to a current level of S$1,802 psf, a 19% uplift. That number still trades at a dramatic discount to nearby freehold peers — Pullman Residences Newton at S$3,075 psf and Watten House at S$3,236 psf — putting Amaninda roughly 41% below the closest freehold new-launch comparable. The rental market tells an even clearer story: 102 rental transactions over the recent window, a 2.32% gross yield, and consistent tenant demand driven by the medical workforce at Tan Tock Seng and Novena, MOE teachers for the school belt, and expatriate families prioritising SJI and SCGS.

The ShiokNest composite score of 57/100 reflects honest trade-offs: 2005-vintage interiors, a modest facilities envelope proportioned for 70 households rather than 700, and the structural thinness of secondary-market liquidity in any boutique building. But for buyers who understand the Thomson Road micro-market — its freehold scarcity, its dual-line MRT upgrade post-TEL, and the irreplaceable school belt on its doorstep — Amaninda is precisely the kind of boutique freehold that disappears from the market as the neighbourhood densifies around it.

Location & Connectivity

Thomson Road at the Novena end sits at one of District 11’s most connected inflection points. The address delivers a combination that has grown increasingly rare in Singapore resale stock: genuinely walkable dual-line MRT access, an elite school belt within 1.5 km, and a mature medical-and-civic amenity corridor that has been quietly upgrading for two decades. Novena MRT (NS20, North–South Line) is approximately 0.59 km from the development — a flat seven-to-eight-minute walk along Thomson Road. Mount Pleasant MRT (TE10, Thomson–East Coast Line) opened at 0.66 km, effectively giving Amaninda residents two lines within comfortable walking distance — an access profile the building did not possess when it completed in 2005. Toa Payoh MRT (NS19) sits 1.11 km further north, and Newton interchange (NS21/DT11) is 1.26 km south, providing transfer access to the Downtown Line for eastern CBD and Bugis routing.

For drivers, the Central Expressway (CTE) is accessible within three minutes via Moulmein Road, connecting rapidly to the CBD, Ang Mo Kio, and the northern corridor. The Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) is reached within five minutes, and Orchard Road is a 5–7 minute drive via Scotts Road. This is one of the few CCR addresses where car-free living is genuinely viable post-TEL while also offering fast expressway access for households that retain vehicles.

Daily life in the Thomson–Novena precinct is structured around three pillars. The first is Health City Novena: Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the National Skin Centre, Mount Elizabeth Novena, and the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine form one of Asia’s most concentrated medical campuses — a quiet but powerful tenant-demand engine that shows up directly in Amaninda’s 102 rental transactions. The second is Novena retail: Velocity @ Novena Square, United Square, Square 2, and Novena Regency are all within a 600–900 m walking radius, covering supermarkets, F&B, and daily convenience. The third is green space: the Singapore Island Country Club, the MacRitchie Reservoir trail network, and the upcoming Mount Pleasant residential precinct provide an unusually deep recreational buffer for an address this close to Orchard.

Schools & Education

1 primary school within the 1 km Priority Phase balloting radius.

Facilities

Amaninda’s facilities envelope is proportioned for a 70-unit boutique rather than a 700-unit mega-development, and that is the correct frame for assessing them. Ho Bee allocated the available land area toward a Balinese resort-inspired landscape — a main swimming pool with sundeck, a wading pool for young children, a Jacuzzi, spa pool, sauna, gymnasium, barbeque pits, and a generous basement car park that comfortably accommodates the resident car count. The development also provides 24-hour security with controlled access, a feature consistently cited by residents as important given the mix of expatriate and local families.

The defining facility here is the landscape itself. Where newer large-format developments lean on gadgetry — function rooms, co-working lounges, smart-home concierge apps — Amaninda leans on mature tropical planting, frangipani trees, stone water features, and the low-rise Balinese pavilion aesthetic that has aged gracefully. For a 2005 development, the landscaping has matured into genuine character; it is the sort of environment that marketing brochures photograph well and residents actually live in.

“Balinese style, suit for expat with kids. Great living, good space, luxury Balinese style, nice living condition.”

— Resident review via Singapore Expats

The honest trade-offs are scale-related rather than quality-related. There is no tennis court (the land footprint does not support one), no function room in the modern sense, and no concierge desk. Gym equipment is appropriate for a 70-unit community — functional rather than resort-grade — which in practice means residents who want serious training supplement at one of the several commercial gyms within a 600–900 m radius. For a buyer coming from a newer 400-unit development with a full lifestyle clubhouse, this will feel intentionally pared back; for a buyer prioritising the 2.32% yield and the freehold title, the facilities envelope is precisely what the economics require.

Unit Sizes & Layout

Amaninda offers a focused unit mix across its 70-unit, low-rise Balinese layout. The configuration spans 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, and 3-bedroom types, with the median recent transaction sitting at approximately S$1.76 million. At the current S$1,802 psf level, that median implies a typical transacted size of roughly 975 sqft — sitting at the larger end of 2-bedroom configurations and consistent with the development’s family-rather-than-investor orientation. Residents and brokers consistently describe the unit layouts as efficient and square, with minimal hallway dead-space and usable rectangular bedrooms rather than the narrow-and-deep profiles that plagued some 1990s-era competitors.

2005-vintage interiors carry the hallmarks of their era: marble-clad common areas, parquet bedroom flooring, standard 2.6–2.8 metre ceiling heights rather than the lofty 3-metre profiles of current new launches, and kitchen layouts that trend practical rather than open-plan showcase. Un-renovated or lightly updated units present a clear value opportunity for buyers comfortable with a full interior refresh — a competent S$80,000–140,000 renovation on a typical 2-bedroom or 3-bedroom unit can yield a contemporary apartment that punches well above its transacted psf. The freehold title is the critical enabler here: renovation capital invested in a 99-year leasehold decays incrementally with the remaining term, whereas on freehold land it retains full value indefinitely.

The low-rise six-storey scale means there are no truly high-floor units, and sight lines tend to terminate at the mature tree canopy of Thomson Road — which for many buyers is an advantage rather than a limitation. North-facing units catch the greenery of the Mount Pleasant precinct and the Singapore Island Country Club beyond; south-facing units orient toward the landscape and pool. Unblocked long-view aspects are not the selling point here — the leafy boutique character is.

Pricing & Market Position

Based on 8 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $1,030,000 to $2,250,000, averaging $1,532,986.

Rents range from $2,300 to $7,000 per month across 102 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 2.3%.

Price Appreciation

From 2021 to 2025, the average PSF has appreciated by 18.6% (from $1,519 to $1,802 psf).

Neighbourhood Comparison

Amaninda occupies a distinct value position in the District 11 freehold landscape. Its closest freehold peers — Pullman Residences Newton (freehold, S$3,075 psf) and Watten House (freehold, S$3,236 psf) — trade at a staggering S$1,273–1,434 psf premium. That premium buys newer interiors, fuller facilities packages, and developer warranty periods; it does not buy a materially superior school-belt position, a materially superior MRT profile (both developments are comparable on rail access), or a different freehold land title. For a buyer optimising the freehold psf-per-sqft on a school-belt address, Amaninda at S$1,802 psf is one of the most efficient entries available in CCR resale.

Against the newer freehold mid-market, Peak Residence (freehold, S$2,489 psf) on Thomson Road itself offers the closest direct comparison — same street, same school belt, same dual-line MRT access, but a newer vintage. The S$687 psf gap between Amaninda and Peak Residence quantifies the age discount on essentially identical location fundamentals; buyers running a renovation-adjusted comparison will find the Amaninda delta more than covers a full interior refresh. Stacked Homes’ freehold-vs-leasehold analysis models the long-horizon value of freehold title in detail; the argument applies directly here.

Against leasehold peers, the comparison sharpens further. Soleil @ Sinaran (99-year from 2006, S$1,970 psf) is the most direct leasehold comparable by vintage and location — Amaninda offers a S$168 psf discount and freehold title. Amaryllis Ville (99-year from 1997, S$1,899 psf) sits at a slightly lower psf but on a much older lease with only ~70 years remaining; the lease-adjusted comparison strongly favours Amaninda. For buyers prioritising lifestyle-scale facilities infrastructure, Pullman Residences Newton or Peak Residence will be the stronger fit; for buyers prioritising freehold land title, school-belt access, and the Health City Novena tenant engine at a sub-S$2,000 psf entry, Amaninda’s combination is genuinely difficult to replicate elsewhere in D11.

ShiokNest Scores

Our proprietary scoring system evaluates AMANINDA across multiple dimensions.

What Residents Say

“Balinese style, suit for expat with kids. Great living, good space, luxury Balinese style, nice living condition.”

— Resident review via Singapore Expats

“Low-density and low-rise Balinese-themed condominium with lush landscaping. Quality construction with marble floors in common areas and parquet in the bedrooms. Within a 5-minute walk to Novena MRT and a quick drive to Orchard or the CBD.”

— Resident commentary aggregated from EdgeProp

“We chose Amaninda for the school proximity — SJI Junior is literally down the road, and New Town Primary is around the corner. The Balinese landscaping gives it a real resort feel; it doesn’t feel like a generic CCR condo. Freehold matters for us as a long-term family home.”

— Buyer commentary aggregated from 99.co

The consistent threads across resident accounts are the Balinese resort aesthetic, the school-belt convenience, and the combination of quietness with central connectivity. Residents who have stayed 5–10 years consistently cite the Mount Pleasant TEL upgrade as the most meaningful post-purchase improvement — a genuine retroactive infrastructure bonus that shortened their commutes without requiring a move. Expatriate families cite SJI Junior, Singapore Chinese Girls’ School, and the Orchard drive-time as the anchoring reasons for staying through multiple postings. The friction points noted are predictable for a 2005 boutique: aging interior fixtures in un-renovated units, gym equipment that is functional rather than resort-grade, and the absence of the concierge-style lobby that newer developments increasingly provide.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Verdict

Amaninda is a compelling proposition for a well-defined buyer profile: one who understands the Thomson Road micro-market, values freehold title structurally, and recognises that the psf gap between this 2005-vintage boutique and its newer CCR freehold neighbours represents genuine undervaluation rather than a fair discount for vintage. At S$1,802 psf freehold, Amaninda sits approximately S$1,273 psf below Pullman Residences Newton (S$3,075 psf freehold) and S$1,434 psf below Watten House (S$3,236 psf freehold). Even against leasehold peers, the position remains attractive: Soleil @ Sinaran (99-year, 2006) trades around S$1,970 psf, meaning Amaninda offers both a psf discount and the structurally superior freehold title. The PSF trajectory — S$1,519 → S$1,713 → S$1,679 → S$1,676 → S$1,802 — confirms that the market has begun to recognise the value gap, with a 19% uplift across the tracked window.

The rental market validates the location thesis independently of the sale thesis. 102 rental transactions over the recent period is extraordinary activity for a 70-unit building — it implies that virtually every unit has cycled through the rental market recently, driven by the consistent tenant demand from Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the broader Health City Novena workforce, MOE teachers posted to the dense school belt, and expatriate families targeting SJI, SCGS, and ACS Primary. The 2.32% gross yield is modest in absolute terms but healthy for a CCR freehold at this price band.

The school belt is the quiet structural advantage that resale pricing still under-weights. St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) Junior is 0.50 km away — a doorstep walk on the same street. New Town Primary is 0.60 km, SCGS Primary is 1.06 km, CHIJ Our Lady of Queen of Peace is 1.12 km, ACS Primary is 1.18 km, and St Margaret’s Primary and Secondary are 1.34–1.36 km. Beatty Secondary rounds out the cluster at 1.42 km. For Phase 2C primary balloting under the MOE 1 km priority rule, Amaninda addresses both SJI Junior and New Town Primary inside the 1 km ballot zone, and remains within 1–2 km priority for several other elite primaries.

The weaknesses are real and should be priced into any purchase decision. The investment score of 48/100 reflects the thin secondary-market liquidity typical of 70-unit freehold boutiques — only 8 recorded sales in the tracked period suggests patient exits rather than quick flips. The 2005 vintage means air-conditioning systems, plumbing risers, and common-area infrastructure are approaching replacement windows, and the next round of sinking-fund calls should be factored into total cost of ownership. The walkability score of 50/100 is middling for a CCR address — decent MRT access, but Thomson Road itself is not a “high-street” in the way that Holland Village or Tiong Bahru are, and daily F&B density is moderate rather than exceptional. For the right buyer — a family making a 7–15 year commitment to the CCR school belt, or a landlord monetising the Health City Novena tenant pipeline — Amaninda represents one of the last affordable freehold entries in a precinct that is systematically being replaced by S$3,000+ psf new launches.