New Futura
Overview & Key Facts
New Futura occupies a prime Leonie Hill Road address in District 9, one of Singapore’s most coveted residential corridors. Developed by Prestige Homes Pte Ltd — a City Developments Limited subsidiary — and completed in 1976, it is a rare beast in the Singapore luxury market: a freehold development on Orchard fringe land that has been owned for nearly five decades without en-bloc disruption. With just 124 units across two towers and a land area spanning the low-density Leonie Hill enclave, it offers an intimacy and permanence that newer high-rise launches in the same corridor simply cannot replicate.
The development sits at the intersection of ultra-prime residential Singapore and quiet hilltop living. Leonie Hill Road is a leafy, low-traffic artery threading between Orchard Road and River Valley, insulated from the commercial bustle of Orchard by a gentle incline and mature tree canopy. Residents enjoy the symbolic prestige of a D9 Orchard-adjacent address while living in a neighbourhood where the prevailing sound is birdsong, not traffic. It is the kind of setting that money can still buy in Singapore — but only barely.
At 50 years old, New Futura is a time capsule of 1970s luxury construction: generous unit footprints, robust structural builds, and an emphasis on space over unit count. The buyer profile today skews heavily toward ultra-high-net-worth investors, expat executives on long-term postings, and permanent residents seeking a flagship own-stay address. Transaction volumes are low by design — with only 124 units, even an active market produces a handful of deals per year, and median prices above S$11 million reflect the illiquidity premium of trophy D9 assets.
Location & Connectivity
New Futura’s location is its single most powerful asset. Great World MRT (Thomson-East Coast Line) is a 290-metre walk from the main gate — a genuinely rare proximity for a large D9 development. At that distance, residents can reach the MRT without breaking a sweat even in Singapore’s climate. The Thomson-East Coast Line connects directly to the Botanic Gardens, Caldecott, Stevens, and Springleaf stations to the north, and Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay, and Sungei Bedok to the south — a corridor that now rivals the North-South Line for practical reach.
For Orchard access, Somerset MRT is 580 metres away and Orchard MRT 740 metres. On foot, Orchard Road is reachable in roughly ten minutes through the Ion Orchard underpass and Orchard Central exit. This means ION Orchard, Scotts Square, Paragon, and 313@Somerset are all within a 10–15 minute walk — an everyday convenience that most D10 developments cannot match without a car or bus. Drivers enjoy equally straightforward access: the PIE entry at River Valley is under 2 km, and the CBD is reachable in under 10 minutes in off-peak conditions.
Leonie Hill’s immediate neighbourhood has a character quite unlike the commercial Orchard strip. The Great World City mall at ground level — directly adjacent to Great World MRT — provides a Cold Storage, a food court, restaurants, and lifestyle retail without requiring residents to venture any further. Valley Point shopping centre and UE Square are within a 5-minute drive along River Valley Road. For dining, Robertson Quay and Clarke Quay are under 10 minutes by car or a 15–20 minute walk along the Singapore River — a genuinely pleasant evening route.
Schools & Education
2 primary schools within the 1 km Priority Phase balloting radius.
| School | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Kheng Cheng School | primary | Within 1 km |
| Fairfield Methodist School (Primary) | primary | Within 1 km |
| ACS (Junior) | primary | ~1.2 km |
| St. Anthony's Primary School | primary | ~1.2 km |
| Chatsworth International School (Orchard) | international | ~1.3 km |
| Gan Eng Seng Primary School | primary | ~1.3 km |
| Gan Eng Seng School | secondary | ~1.3 km |
| ISS International School (Paterson) | international | ~1.5 km |
Facilities
Built in 1976, New Futura’s facilities reflect an era of purposeful but restrained amenity provision. The development features a swimming pool, tennis court, gymnasium, function room, and landscaped gardens — a complete set by the standards of its vintage, but modest compared to the resort-scale clubhouses that newer D9 launches have normalised. With only 124 units sharing the facilities, however, bookings are rarely a friction point and the pool area maintains a exclusivity that larger developments cannot offer.
The honest assessment is that buyers purchasing New Futura are not coming for the facilities — they are coming for the freehold land, the Leonie Hill address, and the scale of the units themselves. Residents consistently describe the compound as quiet, private, and well-maintained, with a resident community that skews toward long-term holders and owner-occupiers rather than transient tenants. The trade-off is clear: no sky gym, no 50-metre lap pool, no indoor sports dome — but what you lose in amenity breadth, you gain in exclusivity, privacy, and a compound that does not feel like a hotel lobby at peak hours.
“The facilities are simple but always well-maintained. The pool is rarely crowded — with only 124 units, you almost always have it to yourself on weekday mornings. That kind of privacy is priceless at this price point.”
— Resident review via EdgeProp
Unit Sizes & Layout
New Futura’s unit sizes are a product of its era and its positioning as a luxury development for the Singaporean elite of the 1970s. Floor areas run substantially larger than contemporary luxury launches: typical units span 2,000–4,000 sqft for three- and four-bedroom configurations, with full-floor and penthouse units running considerably beyond that. At a median transaction price of S$11 million and a current average PSF of S$2,973, buyers are effectively acquiring more usable square footage per dollar than they would in most newer D9 launches — provided they are comfortable with a 50-year-old building and its associated renovation requirements.
Interior condition varies significantly by unit, reflecting the development’s age and the divergent renovation appetites of successive owners. Original owners who have held since the 1970s and 1980s may have units with 1990s fittings; recently transacted units are more often renovated to contemporary standards before re-sale. Buyers should budget for a full interior renovation — new electrical wiring, plumbing, air conditioning systems, and a complete kitchen and bathroom overhaul — if they are purchasing an un-renovated unit. This is not unusual for a building of this age, and the generous floor areas make renovation investments proportionately more rewarding than in smaller units.
| Bedrooms | Transactions | Avg PSF | Avg Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 BR | 1 | $4,008 | $4,400,000 |
| 5 BR | 5 | $4,024 | $10,480,000 |
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 6 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $4,400,000 to $12,500,000, averaging $9,466,667 (~$2,973 psf).
Rents range from $6,200 to $26,000 per month across 150 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 1.5%.
Price Appreciation
From 2021 to 2025, the average PSF has declined by 26.1% (from $4,022 to $2,973 psf).
Neighbourhood Comparison
The four key D9 comparables tell a clear story about the positioning choices available to luxury buyers in the corridor. The Avenir (S$3,190 psf, freehold, 376 units, completed 2023) is the most direct contemporary competitor: it offers freehold tenure, D9 River Valley positioning, and brand-new finishings, but at a 7% PSF premium over New Futura and without the Leonie Hill land upside. River Green (S$3,135 psf, 99-year leasehold, 524 units, 2024 new launch) sits at a 5% PSF premium with a fresh 99-year lease but sacrifices freehold tenure entirely — a meaningful distinction for buyers whose primary concern is generational wealth transfer. Kopar at Newton (S$2,512 psf, 99-year, 378 units, 2019) represents the budget-constrained D9 alternative: newer finishings and Newton MRT interchange proximity, but leasehold and without the Leonie Hill cachet.
The core trade-off is building age versus land security. Buyers choosing New Futura over The Avenir or River Green are explicitly accepting older construction and dated common facilities in exchange for: freehold land on one of Singapore’s most historically valuable residential streets, a 33% PSF discount from the development’s own peak pricing, Great World MRT at 290 metres, and en-bloc optionality that a 2023-built condominium simply cannot offer. For the buyer with a 10–20 year horizon and a tolerance for renovation, New Futura offers the highest land value per dollar of any freehold option in the immediate vicinity. For the buyer who wants turn-key luxury with resort amenities and a full leasehold stack, River Green or The Avenir is the cleaner answer.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEW FUTURA | Freehold | 1976 | 124 | $2,973 |
| IRWELL HILL RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2020 | 2021 | 540 | $2,726 |
| RIVER GREEN | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2024 | 2025 | 524 | $3,135 |
| RIVER MODERN | 99 years leasehold | — | — | $3,237 |
| THE AVENIR | Freehold | 2021 | 376 | $3,190 |
| KOPAR AT NEWTON | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2019 | 2021 | 378 | $2,512 |
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates NEW FUTURA across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“Living here for six years now. The address is unbeatable — I walk to Great World MRT every morning and can reach my Raffles Place office in 25 minutes door-to-door. Orchard is 15 minutes on foot. Hard to imagine a better location for the price compared to newer builds.”
— Resident review via EdgeProp
“The building is old and some shared areas show their age, but the management council has been proactive. Pool is always clean, security is tight, and the compound is genuinely quiet. You forget you’re five minutes from Orchard Road.”
— Resident review via PropertyGuru
“Bought for investment. Rented to an expat banker family within two weeks of listing. Demand from the expat community for large units near Orchard is consistent — the kind of tenants who stay two to three years and look after the unit well. Would buy again.”
— Owner review via 99.co
The pattern across review platforms is consistent: residents value the location and privacy above everything else, accept the older building and modest facilities as a known trade-off, and express confidence in the long-term land value thesis. Expat tenants and long-term owner-occupiers dominate the resident mix, creating a stable, low-turnover community that contributes to the compound’s quiet character. The main criticisms centre on the dated interior common areas and the relatively basic facilities compared to what S$10 million buys in a new launch — fair observations, but ones most buyers price in before transacting.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Freehold tenure on Leonie Hill — generational land value with no lease decay
- Great World MRT (TEL) 290m — rare walkable MRT access for large D9 developments
- Walking distance to Orchard Road, ION, and Scotts Square (~10-12 min)
- PSF 33% below own peak ($2,973 vs $4,459 peak) — freehold D9 land at a discount
- En-bloc score 68/100 — one of the highest in Singapore, reflecting strong collective sale potential
- Generous 1970s-era unit footprints (2,000–4,000+ sqft) vs 900–1,500 sqft new-launch equivalents
- Active expat rental market — 150 rentals from 124 units confirms consistent demand
- Low-density compound with 124 units — exclusive, private, never crowded
- Walkability score 91/100 — Great World City, Robertson Quay, and Orchard all accessible on foot
- Freehold priced below newer leasehold D9 comps (vs River Green $3,135 psf 99yr)
- 50-year-old building — expect full renovation spend of $300K–$500K+ for un-renovated units
- Facilities modest for the price point — basic pool, gym, tennis only
- Low gross yield at 1.45% — not suitable for income-focused investors
- Median transaction price $11M+ — extreme illiquidity, limited buyer pool at exit
- Low transaction volume (6 sales in 12 months) — re-sale timing risk
- Dated common area aesthetics require active MCST management to maintain standards
- Building age may create financing friction for some buyers — verify bank valuations
- PSF has declined from $4,459 peak to $2,973 — no short-term appreciation catalyst visible
Verdict
New Futura is a property that rewards a specific type of buyer: one who values freehold land tenure above all, is comfortable with an older building, and is buying primarily for own-stay or long-term land banking rather than near-term rental yield. The 1.45% gross yield is honest — ultra-luxury freehold D9 assets rarely generate more, and the 150 rental transactions against 124 units confirms that the expat rental market is active enough to cover holding costs if needed. But anyone expecting to generate meaningful income from a S$10+ million purchase should look elsewhere.
The en-bloc story is the most compelling part of New Futura’s investment thesis. At 68/100 on ShiokNest’s en-bloc scoring model — one of the highest ratings in the dataset — the development has characteristics that make collective sale genuinely plausible: old building on a large freehold land parcel in D9, small unit count (requiring fewer consenting owners), land values on Leonie Hill that continue to set new records, and a developer-friendly GFA that makes redevelopment attractive. The D9 en-bloc cycle has historically been active, and a building approaching its sixth decade has the age profile that triggers en-bloc consideration.
The PSF pricing narrative is also interesting. New Futura transacted at S$4,022–S$4,459 psf in its peak years and has since corrected to S$2,973 psf — a 33% discount from peak pricing. For a freehold D9 address with Great World MRT at the doorstep, the current pricing looks compelling relative to newer D9 launches like The Avenir (S$3,190 psf, freehold) and River Green (S$3,135 psf, 99-year lease). Buyers willing to accept the building’s age are effectively acquiring freehold D9 land at a discount to new-launch pricing — an increasingly rare proposition as the pipeline thins.