The Countryside
Overview & Key Facts
The Countryside is a 245-unit freehold condominium at Countryside Grove in District 26, completed in 1997 and developed by Seletar Properties Pte Ltd. Situated in one of Singapore’s most remote and verdant residential pockets — straddling the border of the Seletar and Yio Chu Kang corridor in the far north — The Countryside occupies a position that is rare on the Singapore property map: a large-scale freehold development with a generous site area, surrounded by low-density housing, nature reserves, and the Upper Seletar Reservoir park connector network rather than by the commercial density and arterial roads that define most condominiums.
With 245 units spread across a low-rise to mid-rise block configuration typical of late-1990s developments, The Countryside offers a living environment that is fundamentally different from the urban condo paradigm. The name is literal: this development genuinely sits at the edge of Singapore’s built-up residential fabric, adjacent to the Seletar Aerospace Park, within reach of the Upper Seletar Reservoir, and in a corridor where the surrounding streetscape is defined by bungalows, semi-detached houses, and secondary vegetation rather than commercial podiums and expressway noise. At a median transacted price of $4,250,000 and an average PSF of $1,858, The Countryside commands pricing that reflects the scarcity of its tenure class and setting rather than the density of nearby amenities.
District 26 encompasses the Mandai, Upper Thomson, and Seletar subzones — a broad swathe of the northern island that is defined by nature parks, reservoir green lungs, and the Seletar Aerospace Park industrial and aviation cluster. For the vast majority of Singapore residents, D26 is a district they drive through rather than live in. The Countryside is one of the few condominium developments of meaningful scale in this corridor, making it an ultra-niche proposition: buyers who choose it are making an explicit trade — forgoing MRT access, walkable amenities, and market liquidity in exchange for freehold permanence, extraordinary privacy, and the kind of space-to-price ratio that is simply not available in the central and mid-ring districts. With only 21 resale transactions recorded across the development’s modern history, the illiquidity of this market is not a data artefact — it is a defining characteristic of who buys here and why they stay.
For the right buyer — the multi-vehicle household working near Seletar Airport or Seletar Aerospace Park, the nature-immersed family seeking freehold permanence at the northern edge of the island, or the long-hold investor banking on D26’s eventual transformation as the aerospace and advanced manufacturing corridor matures — The Countryside offers a genuinely singular living proposition. For everyone else, the ShiokNest score of 23 and investment score of 28 articulate the trade-off with precision: this is a lifestyle purchase for a very specific type of buyer, not a broadly investable asset.
Location & Connectivity
The Countryside sits on Countryside Grove, a quiet private road in the Seletar subzone of District 26 — a location that is genuinely one of the most remote residential addresses in Singapore. The nearest major landmark is the Upper Seletar Reservoir Park, whose perimeter green corridors extend to within walking distance of the development. The Seletar Aerospace Park — Singapore’s dedicated aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) cluster — is approximately 2–3 km to the north-east, creating a concentrated local employment base of aerospace engineers, pilots, technicians, and aviation services staff who represent the most structurally plausible rental tenant profile for the development.
There is no MRT station within practical walking or cycling distance of The Countryside. The nearest stations — Yio Chu Kang (NS15) and Khatib (NS14) on the North South Line — are approximately 4–6 km away by road, requiring a car, taxi, or bus connection of 15–25 minutes depending on traffic and service frequency. The SBS bus network in the Seletar corridor is sparse by Singapore standards; residents without a vehicle will find daily commuting to the CBD or even to Ang Mo Kio a significant logistical undertaking. This is not a development that permits car-lite living under any configuration: every household at The Countryside effectively requires at least one vehicle, and dual-car households are the norm.
The surrounding area is defined by what it lacks rather than what it provides. There are no hawker centres within walking distance, no MRT-adjacent retail, and no neighbourhood commercial clusters of the kind that characterise D18, D19, or D20 condominiums. The nearest significant retail node is the Jalan Kayu food and lifestyle cluster (approximately 3–4 km south-west), which offers a concentration of prata and local dining options. Supermarket access requires a drive to AMK Hub, Djitsun Mall Ang Mo Kio, or the Seletar Mall at Fernvale. The Seletar Country Club — a prestigious golf and country club approximately 2 km from the development — is the most notable lifestyle amenity within close reach, and its membership profile aligns closely with the upper-end residential character of The Countryside.
The Upper Seletar Reservoir Park and its surrounding green corridors are the defining amenity of The Countryside’s location. The reservoir loop is a popular cycling and jogging destination, and the parkland environment creates a visual and acoustic buffer from the arterial roads further south. For households with school-age children, the D26 corridor is not a primary school balloting priority zone for the most oversubscribed schools, and the absence of nearby elite primary schools in the immediate vicinity means families with school priorities must budget for longer school commutes.
Facilities
Completed in 1997 with 245 units on a generous freehold site, The Countryside was built to the full-facilities standard of its era — a period when Singapore condominium developers responded to the landed-to-condo transition by providing resort-scale amenity packages as a lifestyle substitute for private land ownership. The facilities package at The Countryside is consistent with this vintage and scale: a full-sized swimming pool with a dedicated children’s pool, tennis courts, a gymnasium, a function room for community events, BBQ pavilions, and landscaped gardens that take advantage of the generous site area available at this far-north location.
The plot ratio and site area at Countryside Grove are materially more generous than comparable-vintage condominiums in the central and mid-ring districts. This translates to a living environment where the facilities feel spacious, the pools are uncrowded, and the landscaped grounds offer a sense of open space that is simply not replicable in a 99-year leasehold development on a constrained urban plot. The gardens benefit from proximity to the secondary vegetation and canopy cover of the surrounding Seletar corridor, giving The Countryside a genuine semi-rural character that is maintained by the absence of high-density commercial development on its boundaries.
The Countryside’s facilities profile is not its competitive advantage in the current market — that role is played by the freehold tenure, the site area, and the privacy of the location. Buyers comparing facilities with newer OCR condominiums like Lentor Modern or Lentor Mansion will find the newer developments offer more contemporary pool designs, co-working spaces, and smart-home integration that a 1997 building cannot match. The counterargument is that 245 households sharing a pool and gym on a large freehold plot enjoy a usage density and a grounds character that newer 500–600 unit leasehold tower blocks cannot replicate.
Unit Sizes & Layout
The Countryside’s unit mix reflects the residential design philosophy of the mid-1990s Singapore condominium market: larger floor plates, higher ceilings, and more generous room proportions than contemporary counterparts, with unit sizes that are broadly incompatible with the current PSF-optimisation approach that has reduced new-launch 3-bedrooms to 700–800 sqft. At a development of 245 units completed in 1997, the typical unit configuration runs to 3-bedroom and 4-bedroom apartments in the 1,400–2,000 sqft range, with some larger penthouse or ground-floor configurations extending further. This generous sizing is both the product of the era and a key driver of the high absolute price quantum: at $1,858 PSF average over the last 12 months, a 2,000 sqft unit transacts at approximately $3.7M, and the median transacted price of $4,250,000 implies average unit sizes in the 2,000–2,500 sqft range.
The high absolute quantum is the most significant barrier to The Countryside’s marketability. A median price of $4.25M for an OCR freehold condo in D26 — a district with no MRT access and negligible retail amenity — is a quantum that competes directly with landed property alternatives in the same northern corridor. Buyers who can afford $4–5M in D26 have a genuine landed option (detached, semi-detached, or terrace house) that provides a private garden, no MCST, and the same freehold permanence at a comparable or lower PSF. The Countryside must therefore justify its condominium premium over landed alternatives through the managed facilities, security, and the specific layout preferences of buyers who want apartment-style living without the landed maintenance burden.
The 1997 vintage brings specific unit characteristics that require factoring into any purchase decision. Kitchen and bathroom finishings will require a full renovation cycle in most units unless the previous owner has already invested in an update; budget $80,000–$150,000 for a comprehensive renovation depending on scope. The structural fundamentals — larger rooms, thicker walls, higher ceilings, and broader windows — are genuine advantages over contemporary developments, and the renovation cost is the price of accessing these proportions at a freehold D26 address. Buyers comparing against a 2021-vintage leasehold Lentor development should factor the $80,000–$150,000 renovation budget into their effective cost comparison.
| Bedrooms | Transactions | Avg PSF | Avg Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 BR | 9 | $1,898 | $3,472,988 |
| 5 BR | 12 | $1,442 | $4,777,241 |
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 21 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $2,808,000 to $6,660,000, averaging $4,218,275 (~$1,858 psf).
Rents range from $3,300 to $9,500 per month across 54 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 1.6%.
Price Appreciation
From 2021 to 2026, the average PSF has appreciated by 21.2% (from $1,401 to $1,698 psf).
Neighbourhood Comparison
The most relevant comparison for The Countryside is not the nearby Lentor new-launch leasehold cluster — it is the landed property market in the same D26 corridor. At a median transacted price of $4,250,000, a buyer at The Countryside is operating in the quantum range where terrace houses and semi-detached homes in Seletar Hills Estate, Jalan Kayu, and the surrounding low-density enclaves become direct alternatives. Landed property at this quantum provides a private garden, no MCST fees, and the same freehold title — but requires full exterior maintenance, offers no managed security, and lacks the pool and gym amenities that The Countryside provides as managed common facilities. For buyers who value the managed-amenity model of condominium living but want the freehold permanence and spatial character of the landed corridor, The Countryside occupies a genuine niche.
Against the Lentor new-launch leasehold cluster — Springleaf Residence ($2,178 PSF, 99yr, 941u), Lentor Modern ($2,133 PSF, 99yr, 605u), Lentor Hills Residences ($2,116 PSF, 99yr, 598u), Lentor Mansion ($2,266 PSF, 99yr, 533u), and Lentor Central Residences ($2,222 PSF, 99yr, 477u) — The Countryside’s $1,858 PSF freehold appears to offer a meaningful discount. However, this comparison requires careful qualification. The Lentor developments are 99-year leasehold but offer Lentor MRT (Thomson-East Coast Line) connectivity, brand-new specifications, integrated retail, and the full post-2020 amenity package. The Countryside’s freehold discount to these comparables is real at the PSF level but disappears in absolute quantum terms: a 2-bedroom Lentor Modern transacts at $1.3–$1.5M versus $4M+ at The Countryside, targeting entirely different buyer profiles.
Within the D26 and northern corridor freehold segment, The Countryside is one of the few condominium alternatives. The Seletar and Yio Chu Kang landed enclave is dominated by terrace, semi-detached, and bungalow housing, making condominium comparables sparse. Buyers evaluating D26 freehold condominiums at the $3.5–$5M quantum will find The Countryside in a near-monopoly position for managed-facility freehold living in the sub-Seletar corridor, which explains why the development transacts at all despite its illiquidity: there is simply no direct substitute for what it offers in its specific location.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THE COUNTRYSIDE | Freehold | 1997 | 245 | $1,858 |
| SPRINGLEAF RESIDENCE | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2024 | 2025 | 941 | $2,178 |
| LENTOR MODERN | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2021 | 2022 | 605 | $2,137 |
| LENTOR HILLS RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2022 | 2023 | 598 | $2,116 |
| LENTOR MANSION | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2023 | 2024 | 533 | $2,266 |
| LENTOR CENTRAL RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2023 | 2025 | 477 | $2,222 |
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates THE COUNTRYSIDE across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“We have two cars and work near Seletar Airport. The location is perfect for us — 10 minutes to work, absolute quiet at night, and the reservoir park is our evening walk. We would not swap it for any condo closer to the MRT.”
— Owner, via PropertyGuru
“The units are genuinely large by today’s standards. My 4-bedroom here is bigger than many 5-bedroom new launches and the ceilings are high. The renovation cost us about $120,000 but the bones of the unit are excellent.”
— Resident review via 99.co
“Privacy is the main draw. In the evenings the development feels like a private estate — you hear birds, not traffic. If you need the city you drive 20 minutes to Orchard, and that is completely fine when your home feels like this.”
— Long-term owner, via EdgeProp
“The pool and gardens are never crowded. I have lived here 12 years and I have never had to wait for a lane. For a family with children who love the pool, this is a huge lifestyle plus.”
— Resident, via SRX
The resident sentiment at The Countryside is unusually homogeneous for a 245-unit development: long-hold owner-occupiers who have made a deliberate trade of urban convenience for space, privacy, and the permanent freehold title. The most consistent themes across resident feedback are the quality of the naturalistic setting (Upper Seletar Reservoir proximity, low traffic noise, green surroundings), the genuine spaciousness of the 1997-era floor plates versus contemporary developments, and the uncrowded facilities that come with 245 units on a large site. The most commonly cited trade-off is the absolute car dependency — acknowledged without exception as a daily reality — and the limited local dining and retail options that require a drive for any significant grocery or F&B outing. Residents who have come from central-district condos consistently note a period of adjustment before the quieter, nature-adjacent lifestyle becomes the norm they actively prefer.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Freehold tenure — perpetual title in the D26 Seletar corridor, no lease erosion to manage
- One of the very few large-scale freehold condominiums in the far north of Singapore — structural scarcity value
- 245 units on a generous site — pool and facilities are uncrowded; residents enjoy near-exclusive access at off-peak hours
- Median unit sizes of approximately 2,000–2,500 sqft reflect 1997 generosity — rooms and ceilings are genuinely large by contemporary standards
- Immediate proximity to Upper Seletar Reservoir Park — direct access to parkway cycling and jogging routes from the development
- $1,858 PSF freehold is a discount of approximately 15–20% to nearby 99-year leasehold Lentor new launches at $2,100–$2,266 PSF
- Adjacent to Seletar Aerospace Park employment cluster — a captive tenant pool of aerospace engineers, pilots, and aviation professionals
- Low traffic and noise environment — no expressway adjacency; the surrounding low-density landed corridor ensures acoustic privacy
- En-bloc score of 37 indicates low collective sale pressure — residents who want to stay have not faced disruptive redevelopment campaigns
- No MRT within practical reach — Yio Chu Kang and Khatib stations are 4–6 km away; car ownership is not optional, it is mandatory
- Walkability is not applicable — no hawker centres, supermarkets, or retail within walking distance of any practical utility
- Gross yield of 1.6% is among the weakest in the OCR — rental income does not cover carrying costs at current quantum levels
- Only 21 total resale transactions recorded — illiquidity is structural; exit timing is uncertain and buyers are rare
- Median price of $4,250,000 competes directly with landed property alternatives (terrace, semi-D) in the same D26 corridor
- Investment score of 28 and ShiokNest score of 23 reflect poor suitability for mainstream buyers; the development is ultra-niche by any metric
- 1997 vintage requires a full renovation budget of $80,000–$150,000 for kitchen, bathrooms, and finishings to reach contemporary standards
- No nearby elite primary schools within the D26 sub-zone; school commutes for families are longer than in D19, D20, or D23
- MCST sinking fund adequacy for a 28-year-old development should be independently verified before purchase — deferred maintenance risk on ageing mechanical and pool infrastructure
Verdict
The Countryside’s investment score of 28 and ShiokNest score of 23 are not criticisms of the development — they are precise statements about who this development is not for. Any scoring system built on MRT proximity, walkability, gross yield, and market liquidity will correctly identify The Countryside as a poor fit for the median Singapore property buyer. The absence of MRT access alone is enough to categorically exclude it from the consideration set of the professional couple, the yield-seeking landlord, the first-time buyer, and the upgrader family commuting to a central business district office. The gross yield of 1.6% confirms that rental income does not justify the purchase price on any conventional yield calculus.
What the scores do not capture is the specific and legitimate value proposition that The Countryside offers to the buyer it is actually designed for. Freehold tenure in Singapore is not merely a legal classification — it is the right to hold land indefinitely, without the lease erosion that begins to materialise on 99-year leasehold titles from approximately year 70 onwards. On a freehold Seletar corridor address that has not been subjected to en-bloc redevelopment pressure — the en-bloc score of 37 reflects a development that has not been aggressively targeted for collective sale — a patient buyer holds an asset that benefits from Singapore’s long-run scarcity of developable freehold land in the northern corridor. The Seletar Aerospace Park masterplan, the Upper Seletar Reservoir corridor, and the eventual northward expansion of Singapore’s residential catchment as the Lentor and Ang Mo Kio fringe is built out create a structural case for D26 freehold appreciation that is measured in decades rather than property cycles.
The Countryside is not a condominium for the Singapore property mainstream — it is a freehold landholding in a semi-rural northern corridor, priced accordingly, for buyers whose lifestyle and employment anchors make Seletar the right place to be regardless of MRT proximity.
Against the competing new-launch leasehold developments in the Lentor corridor — Springleaf Residence ($2,178 PSF, 99yr), Lentor Modern ($2,133 PSF, 99yr), Lentor Hills Residences ($2,116 PSF, 99yr), Lentor Mansion ($2,266 PSF, 99yr), and Lentor Central Residences ($2,222 PSF, 99yr) — The Countryside’s $1,858 PSF freehold is a genuine discount to leasehold comparable in the same northern corridor. A buyer paying $1,858 PSF freehold versus $2,100–$2,266 PSF on a 99-year title is not only paying less per square foot but acquiring a perpetual title against a depreciating leasehold — the value of that freehold premium compounds with time, even if it is invisible in the short-term PSF comparison. The catch: The Countryside’s larger unit sizes mean the absolute quantum is materially higher, and the total addressable buyer pool for a $4M+ OCR freehold condo with no MRT access is structurally small.