Guide · Choosing a unit
Everyone wants a high floor. Don't make this mistake
Everyone wants the high floor: the best view, the most sunlight, and the assumption that when it's time to sell, buyers will pay a premium for it. But is that actually true? I pulled out real transactions: pairs of units in the same stack, bought at the same time. What they show might change how you pick your unit, because for some buyers, chasing the high floor is a costly mistake.
Prefer to watch? This guide follows the video.
In short:
- A high floor isn't automatically the better investment: it depends on who will buy the unit from you.
- At Clavon in Clementi, a 4th-floor 2-bedroom made $101,000 more than the 36th floor in the same stack: investors pay for yield, not views.
- At Seaside Residences, a sea-facing 3-bedroom on the 21st floor made about $244,000 more than the 14th: owner-occupiers pay for the view.
- Before paying for the higher floor, ask who your future buyer is and what they value.
Case study 1: Clavon, Clementi (2-bedroom)
Picture yourself at the showflat, deciding between two 2-bedroom units in the same stack, stack 16. One is on the 4th floor and one is on the 36th. The 36th floor costs $171,000 more. Which would you buy?
This is the exact decision many buyers face today, at new launches and in the resale market, often paying the premium without asking whether it's worth it. These two units were bought on the same day, 12 December 2020, Clavon's launch day, so both buyers had the same choice in front of them. Here's what happened when they sold:
| Clavon, stack 16 | Bought | Sold | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 4lower view, closer to the road | $1,218,000 | $1,580,000 | $362,000 |
| Level 36unblocked view, high up | $1,389,000 | $1,650,000 | $261,000 |
The low floor made $101,000 more profit. So why did the "better" unit make less?
The question to ask for every unit you buy: who is going to buy it from you?
For 2-bedroom units in Clementi, the buyer pool is mostly investors, and investors don't really care about the view. They care about two things: the entry price and the rental yield. Does a 36th-floor unit rent for much more than a 4th-floor one? In most cases, barely: maybe $100 to $200 more a month, and sometimes no difference at all.
So when an investor compares $1.58 million with $1.65 million, and the rent is about the same either way, the cheaper unit gives the better yield every time. That's why the level 36 owner couldn't recover the $171,000 premium paid on launch day: the next buyer simply didn't value the view the way the owner did.
Takeaway: if your future buyer is likely to be an investor, buy as cheaply as you can. Don't pay a premium for a view your buyer won't pay you back for.
Case study 2: Seaside Residences, Siglap (3-bedroom)
The same set-up, but this time two 3-bedroom units in stack 9: one on the 14th floor and one on the 21st. The gap in purchase price was $156,000, even bigger than at Clavon. After Clavon, you might assume the mid floor is the smarter buy again.
These two units were bought within two days of each other and sold within a couple of months of each other, about as close to a controlled comparison as you can get:
| Seaside Residences, stack 9 | Bought | Sold | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 14 | $2,140,000 | About $3,000,000 | $859,000 |
| Level 21 | $2,296,000 | $3,400,000 | About $1.1 million |
This time the high floor made about $244,000 more profit. At Clavon the low floor won; at Seaside Residences the high floor won by a landslide. The difference is, again, who's buying.
This stack faces the sea, and 3-bedroom units tend to attract owner-occupiers: people buying to live there, not to rent out. If this were your home, would you pay $150,000 more to wake up to the sea every morning? At Seaside Residences, the sea view isn't a nice-to-have. It's the reason people buy into the project; it's literally in the name. So buyers pay up for it, and the higher floor sold at a noticeably higher price per square foot than the mid floor.
Owner-occupiers buy with emotion, not a yield calculator. They're buying a lifestyle, a view, a feeling.
What the first two case studies teach
- If your buyer is an investor, the number one rule is to buy cheap. They won't pay you for your view.
- If your buyer is an owner-occupier, emotion rules. A good view can pay you back.
The real skill isn't choosing high floor or low floor. It's knowing who will buy the unit from you, and what that buyer values.
Case study 3: Irwell Hill Residences, River Valley (1-bedroom)
Does that hold everywhere in Singapore? The third case study is Irwell Hill Residences in River Valley, near Great World, in District 9 of the Core Central Region (CCR). This time it's a 1-bedroom, and if you're buying a 1-bedroom, chances are it's an investment.
| 1-bedroom units | Size | Bought | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 4no balcony | 452 sq ft | $1,188,000 | $72,000 |
| Level 17no balcony | 452 sq ft | $124,000 | |
| Level 19with a balcony | 495 sq ft | $1,342,000 | $138,000 |
Levels 4 and 19 were bought on the same day, with a $154,000 difference in price. Even though this is a 1-bedroom, mostly bought for investment, the higher floor made far more profit, and level 19 sold for $220,000 more than level 4.
You might say that's not a fair comparison, because level 19 is bigger (495 sq ft against 452 sq ft). The difference is the balcony: level 19 has one and level 4 doesn't. So I added a third unit to settle it: level 17, the same size as level 4 and also without a balcony. It still made $124,000, well ahead of level 4. The higher floor genuinely outperformed here, balcony or not.
So, is a high floor always more profitable?
| Case study | Unit | Who buys it | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clavon, Clementi | 2-bedroom | Mostly investors | Low floor, by $101,000 |
| Seaside Residences, Siglap | 3-bedroom, sea-facing | Owner-occupiers | High floor, by about $244,000 |
| Irwell Hill Residences, River Valley | 1-bedroom | CCR buyers | High floor, even without a balcony |
The honest answer: it depends. Three case studies, three different outcomes, and the pattern isn't really about floor levels. It's about who is buying.
- In Clementi, buyers are numbers-driven. They want the return to make sense.
- In the Core Central Region (districts 9, 10 and 11), buyers care more about how a home makes them feel. They don't mind paying $100,000 or $200,000 more for a better view, because that emotional value is exactly what they're shopping for.
Investors chase yield; owner-occupiers chase a feeling. Which one your future buyer is depends on the area, the unit type and what the project is known for.
Next time you're at a showflat, deciding between a cheaper unit and a pricier one with a better view, don't ask which one you like more. Ask: who am I eventually going to sell this to, and what do they value? That one question could save you, or make you, six figures.
Planning your next purchase and want a second pair of eyes on it? I'm happy to go through your shortlist with you.
Questions people ask me
Is a high floor always worth the premium?
No. In my three case studies, the low floor won once and the high floor won twice. What decided it was who bought the units next and what they valued.
When does a lower floor make more sense?
When your future buyer is likely to be an investor, as with many 2-bedroom units in suburban areas. Investors look at entry price and rental yield, and a high floor rarely rents for much more.
When is a high floor worth paying for?
When your future buyer is an owner-occupier and the view is part of why people buy into the project, like the sea at Seaside Residences, or in the prime districts, where buyers pay for how a home makes them feel.
How much more rent does a high floor get?
Often only about $100 to $200 a month more, and sometimes no more at all, which is why investors rarely pay a high-floor premium.
How do I tell who will buy my unit?
Look at the unit type (1- and 2-bedrooms skew to investors, 3-bedrooms and up to families), the area and what the project is known for. My AMO Residence case study shows how to check listings and rentals by unit type.
Related guides
- How to spot the sweet spot unit in a new launch.
- When launch hype doesn't mean gains
- OCR hits $3,000 psf: what still works in resale
- The next 6 months could be a trap for buyers
Prices and profits are from actual resale transactions, as shown in my video, rounded where marked "about". Each pair of units was bought at around the same time, so the comparisons are as close as real transactions allow, but every property is different: past results don't guarantee future ones. This guide is general information, not financial advice.