Looking for a 4-Bedroom Condo Around S$1.6M in Yishun?

If you have a budget of around S$1.6 million and you’re looking for a condo in Yishun, what can you realistically expect to buy?

More importantly, if you’re buying for your family’s own stay, where should that S$1.6 million go?

Should you prioritise a newer development?

A higher floor? A better view? More internal space?

Or a layout that works better for your family over the next 5 to 10 years?

I think this is where buyers sometimes get too focused on finding the “best” property.

There usually isn’t one.

The better approach is to understand what your budget can comfortably buy and which compromises you’re willing to accept.

Start With Your Comfortable Budget – Not Your Maximum Budget

This is something I often discuss with buyers.

There is a difference between:

“The bank says I can afford this.”

and

“This is the amount I’m comfortable spending.”

Suppose S$1.6 million allows you to purchase your home while keeping your mortgage manageable and still leaving sufficient funds for renovation, furnishings, savings and other family commitments.

Would you automatically stretch to S$1.7 million or S$1.8 million just because you can?

Not necessarily.

Before increasing the budget, I think buyers should ask:

What am I actually getting for that additional S$100,000–S$200,000?

If the answer genuinely improves your family’s everyday living experience, it may be worth considering.

But if you’re mainly paying for something that isn’t particularly important to you, keeping within your comfortable budget could make more sense.

What Should a Family Prioritise With S$1.6M?

If you’re buying a home for your own family, I would look beyond the project’s name or how impressive the unit appears during the first five minutes of viewing.

Think about how you’re actually going to live there.

How many proper bedrooms do you need?

Are your children sharing rooms now, and will that still work five years later?

Will your parents eventually stay with you?

Do you need an additional bathroom?

Do you work from home?

Is storage important?

How much usable living and dining space are you actually getting?

These questions become particularly important when you’re comparing 3-bedroom and 4-bedroom condos around a similar overall budget.

Sometimes the less glamorous feature on viewing day becomes the one you appreciate most after moving in.

Space vs Floor Level

This is one of the biggest trade-offs buyers encounter.

Most people would prefer a higher floor if everything else were equal.

I would too.

But everything else usually isn’t equal.

A higher-floor property may come with a substantially higher asking price.

A lower-floor unit may give you a larger layout within the same budget.

A smaller high-floor unit might cost more than a larger low-floor unit.

So instead of asking:

“Is high floor better than low floor?”

I would ask:

“Which one gives my family more of what we actually need for the money we’re spending?”

That is a much more useful comparison.

A Real S$1.6M Example: The Criterion

Let me use one of my current listings as a real example.

At The Criterion EC in Yishun, I’m currently marketing a:

4-Bedroom Premium
1,249 sq ft
Junior master with ensuite bathroom
2nd floor
Asking S$1.6 million

The obvious compromise?

It’s on the 2nd floor.

If you’re someone who absolutely wants a high floor and elevated view, this probably isn’t the unit for you.

And I think it’s important to say that openly.

But if your priorities are space, four bedrooms, a practical family layout and staying around a S$1.6 million budget, then it becomes a different conversation.

What Does 1,249 Sq Ft Give a Family?

The number itself doesn’t tell the whole story.

What I find particularly useful about this 4-Bedroom Premium layout is the junior master with its own ensuite bathroom.

For a family with parents staying together, that additional privacy can be valuable.

For families with older children, it creates another possibility.

And as the family’s needs change, having four bedrooms gives you more flexibility for a study, children’s bedrooms, parents or even simply additional personal space.

This is why I don’t think buyers should compare properties purely by price per square foot or floor level.

Look at what the layout allows your family to do.

What Happens If You Want a Higher Floor?

This is where your budget priorities start becoming clearer.

At the time of writing, other 4-bedroom units at The Criterion are being marketed at higher asking prices.

A 1,249 sq ft 4-Bedroom Premium of the same size on a higher floor is asking around S$1.8 million.

There are also smaller 1,119 sq ft 4-bedroom units on higher floors being marketed around the S$1.7 million to S$1.8 million range.

The smaller layout does not have the same junior-master configuration as the 1,249 sq ft Premium.

So a buyer may effectively be choosing between:

More space + Premium layout + lower floor + around S$1.6M

versus

Higher floor + potentially smaller space + higher asking price.

Neither choice is automatically right or wrong.

It depends on what matters to you.

The prices mentioned above are asking prices observed during the marketing period. Asking prices are not transacted prices or valuations and may change as listings are repriced, withdrawn or sold.

Don’t Automatically Spend Your Entire Budget

This is something I feel quite strongly about when helping buyers.

If you have S$1.8 million available, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to buy a S$1.8 million property.

If a S$1.6 million home already gives your family the bedrooms, space, location and lifestyle you need, keeping that additional financial flexibility can have value too.

The difference could potentially mean a smaller mortgage, more renovation budget, additional cash reserves or simply greater breathing room every month.

Of course, there is another side to this.

Don’t buy something purely because it’s cheaper either.

Saving S$200,000 doesn’t help if you’re compromising on something that will bother you every single day.

That’s why the decision has to come back to your priorities.

What Would I Look at With a S$1.6M Budget?

If I were helping a family search around this budget, I wouldn’t immediately start by asking:

“Which condo do you want?”

I’d first establish what cannot be compromised.

For example:

Do you genuinely need four bedrooms?

Is MRT proximity essential?

Are schools important?

Can you accept an older development?

Are you comfortable with a lower floor?

Would you sacrifice some convenience for significantly more space?

Are your parents going to stay with you?

How long are you planning to own the property?

Once these questions are answered, the shortlist becomes much easier.

Because now we’re not trying to find the property with the most impressive specifications.

We’re trying to find the property that best fits the family’s actual requirements within a comfortable budget.

My Stay Real Thoughts

After helping buyers for many years, I’ve found that one of the easiest ways to overspend on property is to keep saying:

“For another S$50,000, I can get this…”

Then:

“For another S$50,000, I can get that…”

Before long, a S$1.6 million search becomes a S$1.8 million purchase.

Sometimes stretching is justified.

Sometimes it isn’t.

That’s why I prefer to bring the conversation back to three things:

What does your family actually need?

What compromises are you comfortable living with?

What purchase price allows you to sleep comfortably at night?

If S$1.6 million already gives you a home that answers those questions, you shouldn’t feel that you have to spend more simply because a more expensive option exists.

At the same time, if something is genuinely important to you, perhaps floor level, MRT proximity or a particular facing, then recognise that priority and budget accordingly.

That’s what sensible property comparison is about.

Considering The Criterion?

If The Criterion is already on your shortlist, I’ve written two other articles that may help you research it further.

My Blog to The Criterion
Project information, connectivity, nearby amenities, schools, facilities and why families may consider the development.

Would You Pay S$200,000 More for a Higher Floor and Better View?
A closer look at the price, size and floor-level trade-offs between the available 4-bedroom choices.

These three articles are designed to answer different questions, so you can decide whether the development and this particular unit fits what you’re looking for.

Looking for a Family Condo Around S$1.6M?

If you’re looking for a 3-bedroom or 4-bedroom condo around Yishun and your comfortable budget is around S$1.6 million, feel free to speak with me.

It doesn’t have to be The Criterion.

Tell me what your family needs, what you don’t want to compromise on and what budget you’re comfortable with.

From there, we can look at the available choices and compare them properly.

And if 1,249 sq ft, four bedrooms and a junior master sound like what your family needs, you’re welcome to arrange a viewing of my Criterion unit and experience the actual space for yourself.