Welcome to another episode of our Newest Segment, “Property Showdown on LittleBidRedDot!”
Today we are comparing 2 Launches from Singapore’s more elusive region, the West Side. As the saying goes “East Side Best Side”, and when talking about the topic on property investments or even just own-stay, we often have the West outcasted but today, let’s use some maps and stats to take a look at these properties in detail.
ELTA jointly developed by CSC Land Group and MCL Land and SORA by Chip Eng Seng, SingHaiyi Group, and KSH Holdings.
We will be breaking down this showdown into 7 categories like what we did previously. They are:
- Distance to the nearest MRT Station
- Number of MRT stops to the city centre (Raffles Place MRT Station)
- Distance to the nearest Hawker Centre
- Distance to the nearest Shopping Mall
- Primary Schools within 1KM radius
- Price per Square Foot
- Premium over the resale units in the vicinity
Category 1: Distance to the nearest MRT Station
To begin, let us look at ELTA’s nearest MRT which is Clementi MRT Station, located on the East-West Line (EWL)
The closest walking distance from ELTA to Clementi MRT Station is 1.1KM and according to Google Maps, the walk will take you about 16 minutes. This will be a partially sheltered walk way. Staying here, be prepared to keep an umbrella by your side daily for Singapore’s sunny rays and pours! Well, the good thing is that you will be walking by Clementi Mall, Grantral Mall and tons of eateries, perfect to grab some delicious breakfast and dinner to and fro work and home. It’s the simple happiness in life right?
Now, let’s look at SORA’s distance to its nearest MRT, Lakeside MRT Station, also located on the East-West Line. The nearest route is a good 20 minutes walk and partially sheltered, mainly at the start. The remaining route just reminds me of a daily army march if you stay here.
The clear winner for category 1: ELTA!
For someone who loves to grab a variety of food to walk and eat. It’s the perfect alone time.
Category 2: Number of MRT stops to the City Centre (Raffles Place MRT Station)
Even though both Condominiums are located in the West, Clementi is several stops nearer to Raffles Place MRT Station as compared to Lakeside, which is beyond Jurong East MRT Station. Good thing is that no MRT Line changing is required.
It takes 9 straight stops on the East-West Line to arrive at Raffles Place MRT Station from Clementi MRT Station and the journey will take about 22 minutes and cost $1.85. Whereas from Lakeside MRT, it takes about 31 minutes, spanning over 12 MRT Stations and cost $2.10 to reach Raffles Place MRT.
Aside from costing more, I personally feel that within Singapore, anywhere that requires a commuting time of more than 30 mins is considered very Ulu (remote area). If we take into account SORA’s distance to Lakeside MRT as well, its almost an hour of travelling time to reach the City Centre within our Little Red Dot.
Our winner for category 2: ELTA!
Category 3: Distance to the nearest Hawker Centre
As we mentioned previously, having a Hawker Centre nearby is important because it is where most Singaporeans dine at and it is also the most cost effective option. It’s always nice to have a Hawker that you can reach by foot within 5-10 minutes of Your Home.
Let’s look at ELTA to begin with. Since the closest mall is over 10 minutes away, you would want to have some nice eateries nearby when you are feeling hungry. The good news is, there actually is! Not 1 but 2 food courts within 5 minutes walking distance.
Just 3 minutes walk away, you will find yourself a food court in the HDB estate at Blk 464B.
and just across the road, there’s another food court located under Blk 420. Both eateries are well within 5 minutes walking distance from ELTA according to Google Maps.
As for SORA, the nearest Hawker Centre would be the Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre located 600m, about 9 minutes walk from SORA Condominium. Well, at least it’s within a 10 mins walk.
You can get to Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre via Ho Ching Road, through the HDB Estate.
Our winner for category 3: ELTA!
Category 4: Distance to the nearest Shopping Mall
ELTA has several malls nearby including Clementi Mall and Grantral Mall which are next to Clementi MRT Station, as well as 321 Clementi which is located along Clementi Ave 3, the walk from ELTA will take you approximately 14 minutes by foot However, the nearest mall would be West Coast Plaza located in the opposite direction from the 3 malls above.
The walk from ELTA to West Coast Plaza is 900m, about 13 minutes by foot. Honestly, not too far for a Shopping Mall near your home.
Next, let’s look at SORA. The nearest mall from SORA is actually located beside Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre. It is the Taman Jurong Shopping Centre and from SORA, it takes 10 minutes walk to get there by foot. We have a clear winner, SORA is finally getting it’s first win after 4 whole rounds!
Our winner for category 4: SORA!
Category 5: Primary Schools within 1KM radius
We are at our kiasu category once again! According to elite.com.sg, there are two Primary Schools that are within the 1KM radius range. They are Pei Tong Primary School (0.9KM) and Clementi Primary School (1.0KM)
For SORA, you get one Primary School within the 1KM radius and that is Lakeside Primary School (0.9KM) from SORA Condominium. All the Primary Schools within 1KM range of ELTA and SORA are mixed-sex schools. It was a close fight, taking into account that the next nearest Primary School from SORA is Fuhua Primary School (1.2KM) but we have our winner.
Our winner for Category 5: ELTA!
Category 6: Price Per Square Foot
ELTA was launched earlier this year on 7 February and its public sales was scheduled on 22 February 2025. Up until this point of writing, ELTA has sold its units at an average of $2,545 PSF. Lowest being $2,200 PSF and highest being $2,881 PSF.
SORA on the other hand had its Preview on 22 June and public sales launched on 7 July 2024. As of today 13 March 2025, SORA has sold its units at an average of $2,178 PSF with the lowest being $1,851 PSF and highest being $2,553 PSF.
To sum up, ELTA was sold at around 15% more expensive based on their average PSF. As both Condominiums are located in the West are both pretty far from the MRT Station, I do not see the significance in the price difference.
Our winner for Category 6: SORA!
Category 7: Premium over Resale units in the vicinity
New Launch prices have been steadily increasing over the years. Despite the rising costs, it is important to know the property market within the area you are purchasing, and if you are paying a reasonable price as compared to the surrounding private residences. You definitely do not want to overpay on your life’s biggest asset! We will be using the average PSF to make this comparison.
Let’s start with ELTA. ELTA is a 99 Years Leasehold Development housing 500 residential units. The nearest and more similar developments around ELTA will be Clavon, comprising 640 units, TOP in July 2024 and The Clement Canopy with 634 units, TOP in November 2019. Both of which are also 99 Years Leasehold.
As Clavon has only just TOP in Q3 last year, there have been many on-going transactions over the last few months. I will be using the most recent transactions from the last 6 months for this comparison.
The average PSF at Clavon is $1,730.28 from Sep’24 to Feb’25. Taking ELTA’s average PSF of $2,545, that’s will amount to a 47.08% premium! That is actually quite insane considering that in 4 years time when ELTA TOP which is estimated to be in Mar 2029, they will not even be 5 years old apart and the premium is already this much now.
The average PSF at The Clement Canopy from Sep’24 to Feb’25 is $1,785,58 and it amounts to a 42.53% premium. Based on these stats, I think our readers have a clear answer on which is the best buy amongst these 3 developments now – but let’s leave this topic to another time. It’s ELTA vs. SORA now!
Now, let’s have a look at SORA’s comparison. Similarly, I will pick the nearest and more similar development to compare with SORA. SORA is a 99 Years Leasehold Development housing 440 residential units. It’s nearest and more similar neighbour would be LakeGarden Residences launched on 5 August 2023, also a 99 Years Leasehold comprising of 306 units, estimated TOP around Q3, in 2027.
There are two new transactions in the first half of March’25 for LakeGarden Residences, but to make this a fair comparison, we will also use the Sep’24 to Feb’25. The average PSF sold at LakeGarden Residences over these 6 months is $2,144.62.
If we take that and compare it to SORA’s average PSF of $2,178, that’s is a mere 1.55% premium.
Our winner for Category 7: SORA!
SORA definitely came in close towards the end/ It was a good fight, and the final score is…
ELTA (4) vs. SORA (3)
Congratulations ELTA~
Love,
Lin Xuan
Disclaimer: I am in the Real Estate Field under the company ERA, which is appointed as the Developer’s Sales Team for most New Launch Projects in Singapore including both ELTA and SORA. The above are my sincere comparison. You may reach out to me via WhatsApp at +65 8222 2556 to obtain official project releases.
To view the previous Property Showdown of this New Segment, you may click on this link: https://littlebigreddot.com/property-showdown-aurea-vs-chuan-park/
Wishing you a great weekend!
