Should I pay $500k more for a new launch — or buy a resale condo instead?

Hi, I am a Singaporean currently based overseas.

I’m deciding between two options:

(a) purchasing a new four-bedroom Premium unit (1,313 sq ft, north-facing, around the 30th floor) at ELTA for just above $3.4 million; or

(b) buying a resale four-bedroom unit (1,281 sq ft, south-facing with sea views, on the 26th floor) at Clavon for close to $2.9 million.

That’s a difference of at least $500,000. If possible, I would prefer not to take a loan.

The Clavon unit would also allow for immediate tenancy and rental income, whereas ELTA is expected to TOP only around mid-2028.

Could I seek your advice on this?

At first glance, this looks like a straightforward decision between a new launch unit or a relatively new resale condo unit.

As you’ve mentioned, the new project option is a four-bedroom Premium unit at ELTA that is priced at just above $3.4 million. 

While the other option is a resale four-bedroom unit at Clavon for about $2.9 million, which can start generating rental income immediately.

To offer some background, ELTA is a 501-unit condominium on Clementi Avenue 1 that launched for sale in February 2025. 

Jointly developed by CSC Land and MCL Land, the 99-year leasehold project sold 65 per cent of its units at an average price of $2,537 psf.

Meanwhile, Clavon is another condo on Clementi Avenue 1, next to ELTA. 

The 640-unit development is by UOL Group, which launched the project in 2020. The 99-year leasehold development was completed in 2024.

A difference of roughly $500,000 between the two choices is significant, and given your preference to avoid taking a loan, it is right that this price gap should be seriously considered.

As such, the real question is not simply a new unit versus a resale unit, but whether the additional capital and three-year wait for ELTA could significantly influence the investment outcome.

Let’s take a look at how the two units compare with this in mind.

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Project details

*Walking time is subjective, but note that in general, most buyers don’t consider a walking time of more than 10 minutes to be convenient. 

We include the estimate here anyway, as some people are fine with this walking time. 

What would you get for paying $500,000 more for ELTA?

Let’s start with a $PSF comparison. 

Looking at units listed for sale at ELTA, a 1,313 sq ft four-bedder around the 30th floor is priced at about $3,438,000. This is around $2,618 psf.

For the resale Clavon unit, assuming a purchase price of around $2.9 million for a 1,281 sq ft four-bedder on the 26th floor, the price is about $2,264 psf.

That works out to a difference of about $354 psf, or roughly 15 to 16 per cent more for the ELTA unit. 

Part of this premium reflects the fact that ELTA is about five years newer than Clavon, but to understand whether this price gap is reasonable, let’s look within the broader four-bedroom market.

How ELTA compares to the new launch market

As we write this in March 2026, overall transaction data for the year is still relatively limited since we’re not yet past the first quarter of this year. 

As such, let’s use full-year 2025 averages for our comparison instead. 

New sale prices for four-bedroom units in leasehold projects that were lodged in 2025, the average prices are:

At around $2,618 psf, ELTA transacts about 14 per cent above the average in District 5 (D5), and about 11 per cent above the Singapore-wide average. 

A great project, but not exactly something we can call cheap for most buyers.

Meanwhile, here’s how Clavon compares to the resale market:

At about $2,264 psf, Clavon is transacting about 17 per cent above the D5 resale average, and a whopping 39 per cent above the nationwide resale average. 

In an absolute price comparison, the transaction data tells us that Clavon is cheaper than ELTA. 

But when we compare its price to the district and wider resale market, it’s far from being a bargain itself; it’s priced well above most resale counterparts. 

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Since both ELTA and Clavon sit within the Clementi area, let’s make comparisons within this specific cluster 

Average resale $PSF in 2025

Unfortunately, there are only a limited number of transactions from units sold at The Clement Canopy and The Trilinq to make a fair comparison, but let’s see what we can determine based on the figures at hand.

The Clement Canopy is another development on Clementi Avenue 1, and the 505-unit condo is next to ELTA. 

The Trilinq is a bit further away at Jalan Lempeng, and the 755-unit development was completed in 2017. 

Clavon is not the most expensive project in Clementi cluster; at least not by $PSF. 

Parc Clematis currently leads the group on that basis that the 1,450-unit condo is also on Jalan Lempengand was completed in 2023.

Units at Clavon have been priced higher than projects like The Clement Canopy and the older Trilinq, although we can’t read too much into this due to the fewer transactions that have been lodged. 

Transaction activity at Clavon is also reasonably healthy, with eight transactions lodged in 2025. 

This is a good sign and demonstrates support for the price points we’re seeing.

We would also suggest that the differences in pricing across the condos in this area are not purely driven by their age.

Both Parc Clematis and The Trilinq are within one kilometre of Nan Hua Primary School, and this proximity supports demand for units there from families with school-going children and demand for units like three- and four-bedroom units. 

Parc Clematis is also a mega-development in that it comprises more than 1,000 units, this is a quality which makes it quite different from the rest of the condos in this geographic cluster. 

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It has 1,450 units and 18 strata landed houses. 

Mega-developments like this can differ from projects with less than 1,000 units, as it presents trade-offs such as the loss of some exclusivity and privacy (albeit in exchange for more facilities and land space).

Larger projects with more units also tend to see higher transaction volumes, which can improve transaction volumes, though the higher unit count also means more internal competition at resale. 

Against this backdrop, the particular unit at Clavon that our reader is considering — priced about $2,264 psf — sits slightly above the project’s 2025 average of $2,147 psf. 

This likely reflects its higher floor and sea-facing orientation.

Even so, Clavon still sits within the upper half of the pricing range, even in this more localised context. 

How the ELTA unit compares within the project

At an average of $2,421 psf across 29 transactions, ELTA’s four-bedder pricing is above the average for this cluster of condos in Clementi. 

The unit which our reader is considering, which is going for about $2,618 psf, is priced even higher. It’s roughly eight per cent above ELTA’s own 2025 four-bedder average, and about 15 to 20 per cent above most resale peers nearby.

Note that if you do buy, your transaction will be close to the upper end of the project’s price range.

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What this tells us about the $500,000 price gap 

When we account for the project’s location and compare the projects within the same Clementi cluster, the pricing difference is easier to understand. 

The Clavon unit is selling within its typical resale range, even if that "typical range" is on the pricier end. The ELTA unit, on the other hand, is positioned near the upper end of the project’s launch pricing.

In that sense, the $500,000 difference largely reflects the premium for a brand-new unit. 

This is due to the expectation that newer projects can see their prices move up over the course of the entire sales period, and by the time they’re completed. 

Another consideration is the general performance of new launch condos versus condos on the secondary market

The table below shows the average $PSF for leasehold condos, both within D5 and across Singapore. Note how the pricing gap between new launches and resale condos has evolved over the years:

We can see that new launches tend to lead the price growth in their area, typically as land prices and overall inflation push up prices over time.

Resale prices go up, but tend to move more gradually. 

In D5, the difference in annual growth between new sales and resale prices has been modest, at roughly one percentage point per year.

What has changed more noticeably is the absolute price gap between the two segments. 

In D5, the difference between new launch and resale prices widened from about $200 psf in 2015 to more than $500 psf by 2025.

So, while new launches may set the pace for price growth, buyers are also entering at a much higher starting point. 

In the case of ELTA and Clavon, this partly explains the current price gap. 

The premium attached to ELTA is consistent with how the market has behaved in recent years, but it also means your investment outcome relies more heavily on future price growth to justify that higher entry level.

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Examining the three-year gap to completion 

Clavon is already completed, which means the unit can begin generating rental income immediately. 

ELTA, on the other hand, is only expected to TOP around mid-2028, so the property would not be rentable until then.

(Quite possibly, it may be even later than that before you can rent, depending on factors like whether renovations go smoothly and you can find a tenant.) 

So that’s roughly three years when the ELTA unit cannot produce rental income, which we need to factor into your returns. 

Clavon – 2025 rental & pricing snapshot

A couple of points are worth noting from the rental data.

First, gross rental yields generally shrink as unit sizes increase. 

Gross yield = (annual rental income / total cost of property), so the pricier the property, the lower the yield. 

This is why landlords tend to buy compact units like one- or two-bedders with a lower quantum, whereas owner-occupiers will buy larger units. 

Second, the four-bedder rental data for Clavon is relatively thin. 

The $9,000 monthly rent comes from just one four-bedder lease in 2025, so we can’t read too much into it. Even so, it gives us a rough sense of the income potential.

At around $9,000 per month, annual rental income would be roughly $108,000. 

Over three years, that works out to be about $324,000 before factoring in other costs. 

If we take a more conservative view and assume rents closer to $8,000 to $8,500 per month, the rental income over three years would still likely fall somewhere in the $250,000 to $300,000 range.

Relative to the $500,000 price difference between the two options, that’s not insignificant.

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In practical terms, the difference comes down to how quickly the investment begins generating returns.

With Clavon, the property can begin producing rental income immediately, while also benefiting from any gradual price appreciation. 

With ELTA, rental income is deferred until the project is completed. 

Any return during that period would depend mainly on price movement by the time the project TOPs.

So, the decision here becomes less about the headline rental yield and more about whether you’re comfortable giving up two to three years of rental income; all this in exchange for the possibility of stronger price growth once the project is finished. 

Capital considerations since you prefer not to take a loan 

Our purview is property advice, so we can’t stray into the realm of personal financial advice. 

However, as you’re not intending to use any form of financing, we’d raise the issue of opportunity costs.

If you pay for the full amount upfront, this could lock considerable capital into your property assets. 

Depending on your personal financial situation, this could come with opportunity costs or liquidity restrictions. 

This should factor into your decision-making if choosing the more expensive unit. 

We should also point out that when buying a new launch such as ELTA, using a loan has an added benefit. 

A Progressive Payment Scheme (PPS) is used, where the repayment amounts increase based on completed milestones. 

As such, the full monthly repayments only come later, which also lowers your commitment. 

You can see here for full details on the PPS, if you choose to use a loan instead. 

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With all that said, let’s do a stress-test scenario to see how the two options compare

From 2009 to 2025, the annualised growth rate of Singapore’s non-landed private residential market, based on the Property Price Index, was about 2.96 per cent per year.

We’ll use this as our benchmark to simulate what happens over the next three years. 

We’ll make the following assumptions: 

• ELTA purchase price: $3.438 million
• Clavon purchase price: $2.9 million
• Growth rate: 2.96 per cent per year
• Holding period: Three years

We’ll assume Clavon generates the above rental income during this period, and that transaction costs are excluded. As there’s no financing, there’s also no interest rate to worry about. 

Applying 2.96 per cent annual growth over three years produces the following estimates:

• ELTA would reach roughly $3.75 million
• Clavon would reach roughly $3.17 million

Before factoring in rental, that’s estimated capital gains of about $310,000 for ELTA, and $270,000 for Clavon; a difference of around $40,000 over the same period. 

What if we include rental, time, and capital efficiency? 

We reiterate that we’re not in a position to give financial advice, so we will assume the $500,000 not spent on ELTA is able to generate roughly three per cent returns per year. 

Without recommending any sort of financial product, we feel this is a reasonable, neutral assumption to account for the opportunity cost.

If Clavon generates about $250,000 in rental income over three years, and the preserved $500,000 earns about $46,000 over the same period, the combined benefit comes to roughly $296,000.

Adding this to Clavon’s projected capital appreciation, we see that:

• Clavon’s total gross benefit ≈ $566,000
• ELTA total gross benefit ≈ $310,000

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What this suggests

The unit at Clavon can bring a huge advantage simply because of the lower cash outlay and how you can generate rental income immediately. 

This doesn’t mean ELTA can’t match or exceed it, but you’d be counting on ELTA seeing very strong price growth upon completion, enough to offset around $296,000 difference from accrued rental income and opportunity cost.

To be fair, we have to add that because you’re currently overseas, rental income may have an added challenge. 

There are certain time-consuming aspects of being a landlord. 

This includes finding tenants, ongoing management, getting your rent (not every tenant will be an angel), and coping with the occasional vacancy. 

You could appoint a managing agent to deal with this, but that incurs costs which eat into the rental income. 

If you prefer a more hands-off approach while you are overseas, ELTA’s later completion date could reduce the need for short-term management. 

In that sense, the deferred income might mean fewer logistical challenges, at least during the years before completion.

All of this can have an indirect effect on the financial outcome. For instance, a bad tenant can pay late or damage the property, affecting the overall outcome and performance. 

Which should you choose based on various factors? 

Final thoughts 

Both options are viable, but it comes down to how you view time and capital.

At current pricing, the prices at Clavon are better aligned with other resale condos in this area, and it offers immediate rental income. 

Its growth profile is more incremental, with rental income, lower cash outlay, and gradual appreciation being the main drivers. 

The ELTA unit, by contrast, is at the higher end of its internal pricing range. 

The capital is committed earlier, and income only begins later. If you believe the next property cycle could deliver stronger price growth, and you’re okay to wait for income to begin, ELTA represents a more forward-looking position.

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Frequently asked questions

What are the main differences between ELTA and Clavon in terms of location and project details?

ELTA is a new project launched in February 2025, with 501 units, expected to TOP around mid-2028, and is located on Clementi Avenue 1. 

Clavon is a completed project from 2024, with 640 units, also on Clementi Avenue 1, and is ready for immediate occupancy and rental.

How does the price per sq ft compare between ELTA and Clavon?

The ELTA unit is priced at about $2,618 psf, while the Clavon unit is about $2,264 psf, making ELTA roughly 15-16 per cent more expensive per square foot.

What does the article say about the rental income potential of Clavon?

Clavon’s four-bedroom units have an average rent of around $9,000 per month, which could generate approximately $108,000 annually, and about $324,000 over three years before costs.

Why is there a $500,000 price difference between ELTA and Clavon?

The $500,000 difference largely reflects the premium for a brand-new unit at ELTA, which is newer and expected to appreciate more over time, compared to the resale Clavon unit.

What should be considered regarding the timing of rental income for ELTA and Clavon?

Clavon can generate rental income immediately, while ELTA’s rental income would only start after its TOP around mid-2028, which is roughly three years later.

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