How to pick the best unit in any property project (2026)

The best unit in a project is rarely the one selling fastest or the one the agent recommends. It is the one whose facing, stack, floor and layout suit how you will live in it or let it, at a price per square foot of usable space that makes sense. You find it by reading the site plan, the floor plan and the area breakdown, not by touring the show unit.

At a glance

• Decide first whether the unit is for your own stay or for tenants. The “best” stack differs for each.
• Study the site plan for what sits next to each stack: the bin centre, electrical substation, car park ramp, pool, road and neighbouring land.
• Price the unit per square foot of usable space. Air-con ledges, voids and big balconies can make a cheap-looking price expensive.
• For projects that applied for approval from 1 June 2023, voids no longer count in the strata area you buy. Older projects can still include them.
• Ask what the gallery does not show: future buildings, noise and the share value that sets your maintenance fee.

Start with how the unit will be used

An owner-occupier family values quiet, a sensible layout, storage and a usable kitchen. A tenant, often for a two-year lease, values location, a functional layout and a sensible rent. A unit that is perfect for one buyer can be wrong for the other.

Write down your top three needs before you see any brochure. For example: no afternoon sun in the bedrooms, a separate kitchen, a five-minute walk to the MRT station. Use them to cross out units quickly, before the agent’s choice frames your thinking. Our checklist of things to do before you visit a showflat covers the money side.

Read the site plan, not the model

URA requires the developer to display a site plan and a project model built to scale. Both must show every building and facility, including the clubhouse, pool, BBQ pits, guard house, electrical substation and bin centre (URA Home Buyers’ Guide). The location plan must show schools, shops and places of worship within 500m. That is the information you need. The landscaping and lighting are decoration.

For each stack you are considering, check:

• Sun. Singapore is near the equator, so the sun rises in the east and sets in the west for most of the year. West-facing rooms get strong afternoon heat. North- or south-facing units usually stay cooler and cost less to air-condition.
• Noise. Look at expressways, MRT tracks, main roads, school fields and the car park ramp. Inside the estate, check what is under the unit: the pool, tennis court, playground and BBQ pits are lively in the evenings.
• Smell and service areas. Avoid stacks directly above or beside the bin centre, loading bay or substation.
• Privacy. See how close the next block is, and whether your windows face someone else’s living room.
• Views. A “view” over an empty plot or a low-rise building may not last. Check the land’s zoning and allowed building height on URA’s Master Plan and property map. Do not pay a premium for a view that a future block could take away.

Then visit the actual site at the times you would be home: a weekday evening and a weekend morning. Galleries are often far from the land. Our article on buying from an artist’s impression shows how renderings can mislead.

Read the floor plan, not the show unit

A show unit is dressed to sell. URA’s guide notes that walls, doors and railings may be left out to make it feel bigger, as long as their position is marked on the floor. Curtains, lighting, wallpaper and loose furniture are decoration and do not come with the unit. And if you are buying a different unit type from the one shown, the layout and fittings may differ.

Work from the drawn-to-scale floor plan instead.

• Shape. Rectangular rooms are easier to furnish than angled or triangular ones. Long corridors and odd corners are space you pay for but cannot use.
• Bedrooms. Check that a queen bed fits with walking space on both sides. Check that the “study” or “flexi” room has a window if you want to use it as a bedroom.
• Kitchen and laundry. Decide whether you can live with an open kitchen, and where you will dry clothes.
• Height and shelter. Note the floor-to-ceiling heights, which must be displayed at the show unit. Check where the household shelter is, as it takes up room space.
• Lofts. A loft or furniture deck in the show unit may not come with the unit. Building one later needs BCA approval if it exceeds 5 square metres or is not made fully of timber.

Work out the real price per square foot

Before you pay a booking fee, the developer must give you the unit’s strata area with a breakdown: bedrooms, balcony, air-con ledge and void areas. The rules on these areas changed recently.

Under the harmonised floor area rules, which apply to development applications from 1 June 2023 (and to some government land sale sites from 1 September 2022), voids are no longer counted in strata area. Air-con ledges are either included in the unit’s strata area, and then counted as gross floor area, or kept as common property outside your unit. Older projects, including many resale condos, may still have voids and ledges in the area you pay for.

Here is a worked example. Say a unit is listed at 1,000 sq ft and S$2.2m, so S$2,200 psf. Suppose 60 sq ft of that is air-con ledge and void. Your usable area is 940 sq ft, and you are really paying about S$2,340 psf for it. Compare units, and projects, on usable area.

Large balconies can be lovely or wasted, depending on how you live. Price them at what they are worth to you, not at the indoor rate.

Choose the stack and floor with data, not hype

Developers price each stack and floor differently. Higher floors and “premium” facings cost more. Check whether the gap is justified:

• Look up resale transactions in comparable completed projects nearby on URA’s transaction search. It shows price by floor range, so you can see how much buyers have actually paid for height in that area.
• Low floors are cheaper, but can be noisy, darker and less private. Ground-floor units with private gardens appeal to some families but not to everyone.
• Units next to lift lobbies or refuse chutes trade convenience for noise and foot traffic.
• Fast-selling stacks tell you what other buyers chose, often on an agent’s advice. That does not make them the best.

Remember too that your maintenance fee depends on the unit’s share value, shown in the Schedule of Strata Units, not on its usable area. Larger units and penthouses carry more share value, and so pay higher fees.

Ask what they don’t tell you

Agents at a new-launch gallery represent the developer. Ask direct questions and write down the answers:

• Which stacks face the expressway, the substation or the bin centre?
• What is zoned for the vacant land nearby, and at what height?
• Which items in this show unit are not included?
• What is the share value of this unit, and the estimated monthly maintenance fee?
• What is the expected TOP date, and the vacant possession date in the contract?

If a free appliance or upgrade is promised, get it confirmed in writing.

After you buy: two protections to know

• Area shortfall. If the final surveyed area is more than 3% smaller than the area in your S&PA, the price is reduced for the shortfall beyond 3%. For example, a unit sold as 100 sqm that turns out to be 96 sqm (4% short) gets a refund for 1 sqm.
• Defects. The developer must fix defects that appear within 12 months of vacant possession, at its own cost. See our guide to developer defects.

Bottom line

Picking the best unit is less about intuition than about reading three documents carefully: the site plan, the floor plan and the strata area breakdown. Choose a facing and stack that suit how the home will be used. Price it on usable space, and check that any premium for floor or view is backed by real transaction data. The show unit is the least reliable thing in the gallery.

Sources

• Home Buyers’ Guide (uncompleted private residential property) — URA, 5 Sep 2025
• Harmonisation of floor area definitions by URA, SLA, BCA and SCDF (circular DC22-09) — URA, 2022
• Master Plan and property map — URA, accessed Oct 2026
• Private residential transaction search — URA, accessed Oct 2026