Murano
Overview & Key Facts
Murano is a discreet 50-unit freehold boutique condominium arranged across three five-storey blocks at 349/349A/351 Pasir Panjang Road, set within the quieter residential stretch of District 5 (Rest of Central Region) between Haw Par Villa and the National University of Singapore. Developed by Novelty Global Pte Ltd and completed in 2009, the project occupies a narrow, well-proportioned parcel tucked away from the busier West Coast Highway frontage — the sort of low-key address that locals describe as “near NUS but not in NUS”, with the Southern Ridges nature corridor a short drive away and the One-North / Biopolis / Science Park cluster a five-minute commute by car.
The building’s positioning is unusually coherent for a boutique project: three white-facade blocks in a walk-up proportion, a shaded lap pool, a small clubhouse, and a unit mix that runs from 635 sqft studios through 861 sqft two-bedders and 1,055–1,066 sqft three-bedders to 1,550–2,045 sqft penthouses on the top floor. Transaction records show a constructive appreciation profile — from around S$1,143 psf at the earliest data point to a 12-month average of S$1,547 psf, a clear uptrend through the $1,031 → $1,317 → $1,482 waypoints. The freehold title is the structural anchor: in a submarket where the nearest leasehold peers — Normanton Park (99-year, 2019), Parc Clematis (99-year, 2019), Elta (99-year, 2024), and Faber Residence (99-year, 2025) — trade between S$1,866 and S$2,557 psf, Murano at S$1,547 psf freehold represents a materially undervalued land-title position on the NUS / Science Park corridor.
The ShiokNest composite score of 52/100 reflects the honest trade-offs: walkability to MRT is modest (Haw Par Villa CCL at 1.05 km is a real but non-trivial walk), facilities are deliberately boutique rather than resort-scale, and the investment score sits at 47/100 partly because thin secondary-market liquidity in a 50-unit freehold can frustrate short-horizon buyers. But for households plugged into the NUS / Biopolis / Kent Ridge employment belt — or investors hunting the strongest yield-to-title combination in District 5 — Murano’s 3.17% gross yield on freehold land remains one of the quieter value stories on the Pasir Panjang stretch.
Location & Connectivity
Pasir Panjang Road threads along the southwest coastline of Singapore’s main island, connecting HarbourFront eastward to Clementi westward via one of the more character-rich residential corridors in the south. Murano sits at the NUS-end of this road, within the 349 block — meaning the National University of Singapore main campus is only 0.81 km away, an easy 10-minute walk for academic staff and postgraduate students, or a two-minute drive that avoids the Kent Ridge slope traffic. For rental-income buyers, this geographic fact is the single most important line item on the investment case: NUS, the adjacent Kent Ridge Science Park, Biopolis/One-North, and the National University Hospital together form one of Singapore’s densest employment and education clusters, and a 50-unit freehold building within 1 km of campus attracts a remarkably stable tenant profile.
Rail access is the honest weakness of the address. Haw Par Villa MRT (CC25) on the Circle Line is the closest station at 1.05 km, a 13–14 minute walk along a gently undulating stretch of Pasir Panjang Road — not hostile, but not the four-minute TEL-walk that now defines premium new-launch pricing further east. Kent Ridge MRT (CC24) is 1.11 km in the opposite direction, and the feeder bus network along Pasir Panjang Road provides reliable last-mile connectivity. The Circle Line links directly to HarbourFront, Buona Vista (change for East-West Line), and Marina Bay (via future CCL6 closure of the loop), but residents realistically commute by car or by the NUS internal shuttle for work at the university or Science Park. For drivers, the West Coast Highway and Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) are both accessible within three to four minutes, making Murano an unusually fast-drive address to the CBD (15 minutes off-peak), Jurong East, and Changi.
The neighbourhood itself is a specific and understated pocket of Singapore. Haw Par Villa, the idiosyncratic Chinese mythology theme park, sits two minutes away and anchors an edge of the Southern Ridges trail system — Kent Ridge Park, HortPark, and the Henderson Waves elevated walkway are all within easy reach, giving residents access to one of Singapore’s more spectacular car-free recreation corridors. The Pasir Panjang Food Centre, Alexandra Retail Centre, and the supermarket and F&B options along the Rochester Mall / Star Vista corridor (three minutes by car) cover daily needs, and the expat school belt — Dulwich College Singapore 1.55 km, UWCSEA Dover 1.86 km, Dover Court International 1.83 km — serves the international-family demographic that drives a significant share of Murano’s rental demand alongside the NUS academic community.
Schools & Education
| School | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| National University of Singapore | tertiary | Within 1 km |
| Dulwich College (Singapore) | international | ~1.6 km |
| Kent Ridge Secondary School | secondary | ~1.6 km |
| Dover Court International School | international | ~1.8 km |
| United World College of South East Asia (Dover) | international | ~1.9 km |
| NUS High School of Mathematics and Science | jc | ~1.9 km |
Facilities
Murano’s facilities are deliberately proportioned to the building’s 50-unit scale. The development offers a lap and leisure swimming pool, a wading pool for young children, a gymnasium, BBQ pits, a playground, and a clubhouse / function room suitable for small private events — together with 24-hour security, CCTV monitoring, and covered basement parking. For a boutique freehold of this size, the facilities package is adequate rather than ambitious: you will not find a tennis court, a 50-metre pool, or a resort-style sky deck here, but the building was not designed to compete on that axis.
The honest benefit of the small scale is availability. Residents consistently note that the pool is rarely crowded, the gym is never oversubscribed, and the BBQ pits are easily bookable at short notice — the kind of everyday usability that becomes harder to find as new launches scale toward 500–1,000 units in the same district. The architectural treatment — three white-facade low-rise blocks with a central landscaped spine — feels human in scale and ages more gracefully than the glass-and-metal towers completed in the same era.
“Wonderful neighbours, and the facilities are never crowded — I can use the pool any time without queuing. It’s very spacious and close to the bus stops, very comfortable to live in.”
— Resident review, Singapore Expats condo directory
The main facilities trade-off is the absence of a concierge, a 24-hour front desk, or the curated lifestyle infrastructure (co-working lounge, kids’ study room, teppanyaki pavilion) that buyers now expect in S$2,500+ psf new launches. For a buyer paying a freehold premium, this is a fair conversation to have with oneself before committing: Murano is a residential building in the older, more honest sense of the word — not a lifestyle product. Most residents consider that a feature rather than a bug, but it is not to every buyer’s taste.
Unit Sizes & Layout
Murano offers an unusually wide unit mix for a 50-unit development. The configurations span studios (approximately 635 sqft), two-bedroom units (861 sqft), three-bedroom units (1,055–1,066 sqft), and three-bedroom penthouses (1,550–2,045 sqft) on the top floor. The median transacted price of S$1,550,000 at the current S$1,547 psf average implies a typical 1,000 sqft three-bedroom unit — a family-scale freehold apartment in District 5 at a price point that is increasingly rare on this corridor as newer leasehold stock pushes above S$1,800 psf.
2009-vintage interiors reflect their era: ceiling heights are standard rather than the 3-metre lofts now marketed in new launches, kitchens skew practical-Asian rather than open-plan showcase, and bathrooms are single-stack. Un-renovated or lightly updated units offer a clear value lever for buyers comfortable with a contemporary refresh — budgeting S$60,000–120,000 on a 1,000–1,100 sqft three-bedder yields a competitively modern apartment at a fully-loaded price well below any freehold new-launch equivalent. Crucially, because the title is freehold, this renovation investment is not eroded by lease decay: on a 99-year leasehold unit, the economics of a five-figure renovation shift meaningfully after year 40.
The studios at 635 sqft and the two-bedders at 861 sqft are the natural rental vehicles. With NUS 0.81 km away, Science Park across the AYE, and NUH a five-minute drive, the tenant pool is deep: postdoctoral researchers, medical residents, visiting faculty, and tech professionals at One-North routinely lease units at $4,000–$4,500 per month, which underwrites the observed 3.17% gross yield. The 64 active leases across a 50-unit building is the clearest quantitative signal of tenant demand — most boutique freehold condos see far lower rental participation ratios.
| Bedrooms | Transactions | Avg PSF | Avg Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 BR | 3 | $1,437 | $1,237,296 |
| 3 BR | 3 | $1,458 | $1,542,963 |
| 4 BR | 1 | $1,032 | $1,600,000 |
| 5 BR | 1 | $1,031 | $2,108,888 |
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 8 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $1,080,000 to $2,108,888, averaging $1,506,208 (~$1,547 psf).
Rents range from $2,300 to $6,400 per month across 64 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 3.2%.
Price Appreciation
From 2021 to 2025, the average PSF has appreciated by 37.7% (from $1,143 to $1,574 psf).
Neighbourhood Comparison
Murano’s competitive set in the Pasir Panjang / NUS / West Coast corridor is unusually clean, because almost every meaningful comparable is 99-year leasehold. Normanton Park (99-year, 2019, 1,862 units, S$1,866 psf) is the most direct peer by location — a large-scale redevelopment of the former HUDC estate approximately 1.5 km from Murano, with extensive resort-scale facilities and TOP-era finishes. At S$1,866 psf leasehold versus Murano’s S$1,547 psf freehold, the price gap is a genuine 17% discount on a structurally superior title. Over a 20-year holding horizon, the lease-adjusted comparison widens materially in Murano’s favour — Stacked Homes’ freehold-vs-leasehold framework models this divergence cleanly.
Parc Clematis (99-year, 2019, 1,468 units, S$1,884 psf) offers a similar leasehold-versus-freehold comparison further west in the Clementi belt. Parc Clematis delivers superior facilities infrastructure and a larger tenant pool on the resale market, but Murano’s location on the Pasir Panjang stretch sits markedly closer to NUS main campus and the Kent Ridge Science Park employment clusters — an advantage that material for both owner-occupiers and rental-focused buyers. Buyers optimising for amenity depth and liquidity will favour Parc Clematis; buyers optimising for freehold land-title and NUS proximity should give Murano first consideration.
Against the newer leasehold launches — Elta (99-year, 2024, S$2,557 psf) and Faber Residence (99-year, 2025, S$2,156 psf) — the value gap is stark. Elta trades at a 65% premium to Murano on a leasehold title that is effectively 15 years younger but will still decay through the 21st century. Faber Residence offers more modern facilities and contemporary interiors but lacks both the Pasir Panjang / NUS address and the freehold title. For a buyer with a 10-year-plus holding horizon and a preference for land-title security over lifestyle polish, Murano remains — quietly — one of the more compelling freehold entries on this side of the island.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MURANO | Freehold | 2009 | 50 | $1,547 |
| LANDED HOUSING DEVELOPMENT | Freehold | 2021 | 156 | $1,832 |
| NORMANTON PARK | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2019 | 2021 | 1,840 | $1,866 |
| PARC CLEMATIS | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2019 | 2021 | 1,450 | $1,884 |
| ELTA | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2024 | 2025 | 501 | $2,557 |
| FABER RESIDENCE | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2025 | 2025 | 399 | $2,156 |
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates MURANO across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“Wonderful neighbours. It’s very spacious and close to stations and bus stops, so it’s very comfortable to live in. We get to live away from the hustle and bustle of city life with beautiful serenity and low traffic volume.”
— Resident review via Singapore Expats condo directory
“Low-density setting and freehold status were our main reasons. It’s a 10-minute walk to NUS and a short drive to One-North and Science Park. The pool is never crowded, and for a 50-unit building the facilities are more than enough. It feels like a quiet residential block rather than a condo product.”
— Resident review via PropertyGuru
“We rent out our three-bedder to a postdoc at NUS — tenant retention has been excellent because the university is practically around the corner. The 3%-plus yield is rare for a freehold unit at this price point in District 5. Main downside is the MRT walk, but we drive anyway.”
— Investor review via EdgeProp
The consistent threads across resident accounts are the boutique low-density feel, the NUS / Science Park proximity, and the freehold title — all structural rather than cosmetic strengths. Longer-tenure residents (5–10 years) routinely mention the quiet of the Pasir Panjang stretch after dark and the ease of weekend access to the Southern Ridges nature trails. The most commonly cited friction points are the MRT walk (honest, not ruinous), the modest facilities relative to newer neighbours, and the absence of a concierge or curated lifestyle layer. None of these are deal-breakers for the building’s natural buyer, but they are fair for prospective purchasers to walk through with clear eyes.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Freehold tenure — S$1,547 psf vs S$1,866–S$2,557 psf for 99-year leasehold neighbours (17%+ structural discount)
- NUS main campus 0.81km — rare freehold within 1km of the National University of Singapore
- Strong expat school belt <2km: Dulwich College 1.55km, UWCSEA Dover 1.86km, Dover Court 1.83km, NUS High 1.94km
- 3.17% gross yield — solid for a freehold District 5 boutique; 64 active rentals in a 50-unit building confirms tenant depth
- PSF appreciation confirmed: $1,143 → $1,031 → $1,317 → $1,482 → $1,547 — constructive uptrend
- Boutique 50-unit scale — pool, gym and BBQ pits rarely crowded; stable neighbour base
- Science Park / Biopolis / One-North employment cluster within 5-minute drive — deep research and academic tenant pool
- Wide unit mix: 635sqft studios through 2,045sqft penthouses — caters to both investors and owner-occupier families
- Southern Ridges / Kent Ridge Park / HortPark car-free recreation corridor within walking distance
- West Coast Highway and AYE within 3–4 minutes — fast CBD access (15 minutes off-peak) and quick drive to Jurong East
- Walkability score 41/100 — Haw Par Villa MRT 1.05km is a genuine 13–14 minute walk, not TEL-tier rail access
- Investment score 47/100 — only ~8 sales per year in a 50-unit building; thin secondary-market liquidity for short-horizon buyers
- 2009-vintage interiors and M&E systems — sinking-fund calls for mid-life replacement works plausible in coming years
- Facilities are modest by new-launch standards — no tennis court, no concierge, no curated lifestyle infrastructure
- En-bloc score 45/100 — low-probability but finite risk given boutique scale and NUS-corridor land value
- Compact site across 3 small blocks — limited landscaping depth versus larger estates like Normanton Park
- Kent Ridge MRT (CCL) 1.11km is the secondary option — no alternative rail line within comfortable walking distance
- Rental-driven tenant profile can mean frequent lease turnover for owner-occupiers wanting settled neighbour community
Verdict
Murano is a well-defined proposition for a well-defined buyer. The thesis is specific: a freehold boutique on the NUS / Science Park corridor, priced at a materially lower psf than its 99-year leasehold neighbours, with a liquid rental market underwriting a credible 3.17% gross yield. At S$1,547 psf freehold, Murano sits roughly 17% below Normanton Park (S$1,866 psf, 99-year), 18% below Parc Clematis (S$1,884 psf, 99-year), and dramatically below the newer launches at Elta (S$2,557 psf) and Faber Residence (S$2,156 psf). The PSF trend — S$1,143 through S$1,031, S$1,317, S$1,482, to S$1,547 — confirms that the market is gradually narrowing this gap, which is precisely what a structural freehold discount is expected to do over time.
The school proximity is an underappreciated strength for international-family buyers. NUS 0.81 km, Dulwich College (Singapore) 1.55 km, Kent Ridge Secondary 1.63 km, Dover Court International 1.83 km, UWCSEA Dover 1.86 km, and NUS High School 1.94 km — within a 2 km radius, Murano is bracketed by two of Singapore’s most selective universities, two elite international schools, and a national-premier secondary. For expat households on long-term postings at NUS, NUH, or the research institutes at One-North and Biopolis, this is an efficient school-and-work catchment that does not require crossing the island.
The weaknesses are real and worth naming. The walkability score of 41/100 reflects genuine MRT friction: Haw Par Villa at 1.05 km and Kent Ridge at 1.11 km are both 13–14 minute walks, which is a consequential consideration for residents who do not drive. The investment score of 47/100 reflects thin secondary-market liquidity — only eight sales transactions in the tracked 12-month period in a 50-unit building — meaning buyers who might need to exit within a 3–5 year horizon should underwrite patience into the holding period. The facilities are modest by new-launch standards, and the 2009 vintage means M&E systems are approaching their natural mid-life replacement windows, with sinking-fund calls for major works plausibly in the near-term.
For the right buyer — an NUS-affiliated household, a Science Park / One-North professional, or a yield-focused investor who values freehold land title on a corridor with deep tenant demand — Murano remains one of the better-priced freehold entries on this stretch of the island. The URA Master Plan zoning for Pasir Panjang Road preserves the low-to-mid density residential character for the foreseeable horizon, which structurally protects the boutique scale from being diluted by 30-storey towers next door.