> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.patkoproperty.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # CCR vs RCR in 2026 โ€” When Upper Thomson Costs Almost The Same As Bukit Timah - URL: https://www.patkoproperty.com/ccr-vs-rcr-condo-price-gap-2026/ - Published: 2026-11-14T08:44:02.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-14T08:44:02.000Z - Description: Thomson Reserve sold 1,143 units at $2,900 psf. Dunearn House in Bukit Timah launched at $3,140 psf. The gap between prime and city fringe is the smallest in almost 30 years, and one in five prime resale deals lost money last quarter. So is the CCR cheap, or is it a trap? - Author: PatkoProperty - Tags: ABSD, Private Property, New Launch Two weekends ago, 1,143 families [wrote cheques for a 99-year leasehold condo at Bright Hill Drive](https://sgpropertynews.com/thomson-reserve-launch-weekend-sales-blockbuster-analysis/). Average price, **$2,900 psf**. Three months before that, a 99-year leasehold condo in District 11, Bukit Timah, launched at an average of **$3,140 psf**. Do the sum. That is about 8% more to go from Upper Thomson to Bukit Timah. EIGHT PERCENT. Last time I checked, Bukit Timah was supposed to be for the atas people. ๐Ÿ˜„ ![CCR vs RCR in 2026 โ€” When Upper Thomson Costs Almost The Same As Bukit Timah](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9e/30/9e3010e5-95ed-46ed-b474-456a0d14d83c/content/images/2026/11/Thomson-View-Night-View.webp) CCR vs RCR in 2026 โ€” When Upper Thomson Costs Almost The Same As Bukit Timah So what is going on. Did the city fringe become expensive, or did prime become cheap? And more important for you, which one should you be buying now? ## First, What Is CCR, RCR and OCR Again Quick one, because the whole article depends on it. [Read the refresher article in this link first.](https://newlaunchescondo.sg/the-3-regions-in-singapore-property/) - **CCR (Core Central Region)** โ€” Districts 9, 10 and 11, the Downtown Core and Sentosa. Orchard, River Valley, Bukit Timah, Newton, Marina Bay. - **RCR (Rest of Central Region)** โ€” the city fringe ring around the CCR. Queenstown, Toa Payoh, Bishan, Kallang, Marine Parade, Upper Thomson and so on. - **OCR (Outside Central Region)** โ€” everything else. The heartlands. For as long as I have been in this line, the order was fixed. CCR most expensive, RCR in the middle, OCR the cheapest. The only question was how big the gaps were. You know.. when growing up, my friends are from ACS and they all stay at the super posh Bukit Timah Road area... so I grew up with CCR friends.. just that I never become as rich as them ๐Ÿ˜ญ ## The Two Launches, Side By Side | | Thomson Reserve | Dunearn House | | -------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | | Region | RCR | CCR | | District | 20 (Bright Hill Drive) | 11 (Dunearn Road, Bukit Timah Turf City) | | Tenure | 99-year leasehold | 99-year leasehold | | Total units | 1,268 | 380 | | Developers | UOL, SingLand, CapitaLand Development | Frasers Property, CSC Land, Sekisui House | | Launch weekend | 31 Oct 2026 | 25โ€“26 Jul 2026 | | Sold at launch | 1,143 units (90.1%) | 212 units (56%) | | Average launch price | $2,900 psf | $3,140 psf | Same tenure. Both big-name developers. Both launched in the second half of 2026\. This is about as clean a comparison as you will get in real life. On a 1,000 sq ft unit, that $240 psf difference works out to **$240,000**. At a 75% loan, the extra cash and CPF you need upfront is about $60,000\. Not small money, but for a Bukit Timah address? People spend more than that on a car (and the car is gone in 10 years). The buyers at [Thomson Reserve](https://newlaunchescondo.sg/thomson-reserve/) knew exactly what they wanted. Every single 3-bedroom and 4-bedroom unit was sold on launch weekend. So was every 2-bedroom plus study. What is left is mostly the smaller 2-bedders, which started from $1.544 million. Still got chance, but not for long. ![Dunearn House. Bukit Timah address, city fringe pricing. Not so atas already](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9e/30/9e3010e5-95ed-46ed-b474-456a0d14d83c/content/images/2026/11/Dunearn-House.-Bukit-Timah-address--city-fringe-pricing.-Not-so-atas-already.webp) Dunearn House. Bukit Timah address, city fringe pricing. Not so atas already ## It Is Not Just These Two Projects One pair of launches can be a coincidence. So let us look at the resale market, where there is 28 years of data. Stacked Homes (one of the best property web sites in Singapore) ran the numbers on comparable resale condos (grouped by size and age) and found that CCR units now cost only **19% more per square foot** than RCR ones. That is the narrowest gap since 1998. | Period | CCR premium over RCR (resale, psf) | | ------------ | ---------------------------------- | | 2007 peak | 64% | | October 2016 | 40% | | October 2021 | 36% | | October 2025 | 21% | | October 2026 | 19% | Look at the last five years. From 36% down to 19%. The premium basically got cut in half. And URA's own price index says the same thing in a different way. In 3Q2026, non-landed prices in the OCR went up 2.3%. The CCR moved 0.3%. The RCR did not move at all. The heartlands are running and prime is strolling. WAH. SO PRIME IS ON SALE? WAIT FIRST. READ THE NEXT PART. ๐Ÿ˜ฆ ## The Other Side: One In Five CCR Resales Lost Money This is the number that should make you slow down. Cushman & Wakefield compiled the 3Q2026 resale data for The Business Times. Islandwide, 93 out of 2,021 resale deals were sold at a loss. That is 4.6%, the highest since 2Q2022\. Sounds small. Now split it by region. | Region | Share of resale deals sold at a loss (3Q2026) | | ------ | --------------------------------------------- | | CCR | 19.5% | | RCR | 4.5% | | OCR | 1.6% | Almost **one in five** CCR resale deals lost money. The CCR alone made up about half of all the loss-making deals in Singapore. The worst one by percentage was a 710 sq ft unit at Marina One Residences, bought for $1.83 million in July 2018 and sold for $1.25 million in August. A 32% loss after holding for eight years. By dollar amount, the biggest hit was a 1,604 sq ft unit at OUE Twin Peaks, bought at $4.9 million in 2017 and sold at $3.88 million. About $1 million gone. And these numbers are before stamp duties and agent fees. ๐Ÿ˜ฆ Meanwhile, the top five percentage gains in the whole country were all at one Executive Condo. Hundred Palms Residences. One owner bought at $860,000 in 2017 and sold at $2.26 million. An EC in Hougang beat every luxury condo in town. So yes. The CCR gap is narrow for a reason. It is not charity. ## Why Did Prime Get Left Behind Three reasons, and none of them are complicated. **One. The foreigners stopped coming.** Since April 2023, [foreigners pay 60% ABSD](https://www.patkoproperty.com/new-absd-rates-for-foreigners-in-apr-2023/) on any residential purchase. A big chunk of the CCR, especially the small units around Marina Bay and Orchard, was built for exactly that buyer. That buyer is now paying 60% tax to enter, so he is mostly not entering. (Read everything about [ABSD here](https://www.patkoproperty.com/tag/absd/) if you need a refresher.) **Two. Singaporean money went to the suburbs.** HDB upgraders sold their flats at record prices and took that money to the OCR and RCR, close to where they already live, where the kids' schools are, where the grandparents are. They did not take it to Marina Bay. Convenience beats everything. Besides Singapore so small leh.... go anyway also fast.. use the savings to buy a Tesla (or BYD ๐Ÿ˜‚). **Three. New launches near the MRT in the RCR got priced like prime.** Land cost up, construction cost up, and developers found out that buyers will pay it. Thomson Reserve at $2,900 psf with 90% sold in a weekend is the proof. MRT is so important. SO SO IMPORTANT. Cause every time a new launch comes up, first thing is "where is the nearest MRT, huh?"....... Prime did not really fall. Everybody else climbed up to meet it. ## My Take Two sides, as usual. And then an actual answer. *(Full Disclosure: I work in PropNex and I can sell you a unit in either project. So I earn the same whichever one you pick. Biased both ways, which is almost the same as not biased.)* ๐Ÿ˜„ **The CCR is not one market. It is two.** The first one I call the **investor CCR**. Small units in the CBD, Marina Bay and parts of Orchard, designed for rental and for overseas buyers. Look again at where the big losses were. Marina One. OUE Twin Peaks. Both 99-year leasehold, both in the investor belt. The buyer these were built for now faces a 60% tax. Until that changes, I would not touch this segment for investment. Cheap can get cheaper. The second one is the **family CCR**. Bukit Timah, Newton, the family-sized end of River Valley. Good schools, proper 3 and 4-bedroom layouts, and neighbours who are Singaporeans living in their own homes. The biggest dollar profit last quarter was at Leedon Residence in District 10, where a seller made $3.75 million. This part of the CCR never depended on foreigners, and it is not the part that is losing money. Now put the two together. The family CCR is being marked down in the statistics because it shares a postcode label with the investor CCR. **That is the opportunity.** You are getting Bukit Timah at an 8% premium to Upper Thomson because of what happened to shoebox units in Marina Bay. Those two things have nothing to do with each other. So here is my answer. **If your budget is $2.5 million and above and you are buying a 3-bedder to live in for the next 10 years, you must price the family CCR before you sign anything in the RCR.** Not "consider". Must. [Dunearn House](https://launchpropertysingapore.com.sg/new-launches/dunearn-house/) still has units, and it is the first private launch inside the whole Bukit Timah Turf City plan. Same logic for the big-format freehold stuff like [32 Gilstead](https://www.patkoproperty.com/32-gilstead-freehold-large-format-condo-in-newton/) in Newton, and [River Modern](https://www.patkoproperty.com/review-river-modern-at-river-valley-the-new-benchmark-for-waterfront-luxury/) at River Valley. And if primary school is part of your plan, re-read [what just happened to the 1km rule at 12 schools](https://www.patkoproperty.com/2027-p1-registration-changes-the-1km-rule-at-12-schools/), because more than half of those 12 schools sit right inside the family CCR. **If your budget is $1.5 million to $2 million, stay in the RCR and do not feel bad about it.** At that quantum the CCR can only offer you a small unit, and small units in the CCR are exactly where the losses are. A 2-bedder at Thomson Reserve, 1km from Ai Tong and next to an MRT station, will have a much deeper pool of buyers when you sell. 1,143 families cannot all be wrong. **And if you are buying to flip in four years, neither one.** The [Seller's Stamp Duty holding period is four years now](https://www.patkoproperty.com/seller-stamp-duty-increase-in-july-2025/), the median resale gain has been shrinking, and one in five prime sellers is already losing money. This is an own-stay market. Buy the home you want to live in, check [how much you can actually borrow](https://www.patkoproperty.com/tdsr-and-msr-singapore-how-much-can-you-actually-borrow/), and hold it. I never thought I would write this sentence, but here it is. BUKIT TIMAH IS THE VALUE BUY. Not so atas already. ๐Ÿ˜† Sources: [URA 3Q2026 real estate statistics](https://www.ura.gov.sg/Corporate/Media-Room/Media-Releases) ยท [The Business Times / Cushman & Wakefield on loss-making resales](https://sg.news.yahoo.com/one-five-prime-region-private-123500159.html) ยท [Stacked Homes on the CCRโ€“RCR gap](https://stackedhomes.com/prime-resale-condos-cost-1-19x/) ยท [The Edge Singapore on Thomson Reserve](https://www.theedgesingapore.com/cityandcountry/new-launches/thomson-reserve-sells-over-90-1268-units-average-2900-psf-launch) --- [My FaceBook Page](https://www.facebook.com/patkoproperty/) [My Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/patkoproperty/)