Jansen 28
Overview & Key Facts
Jansen 28 is a small boutique condominium tucked along Jansen Road in District 19 — the leafy, predominantly landed residential enclave that sits between Kovan and Serangoon. Developed by MS Koh Siew Hoon and Mr Neo Eng Kiat and completed in 2000, the project comprises just 30 units on a 999-year leasehold tenure commencing 1876 — a tenure class that behaves, for most practical purposes, like a freehold asset. The site is modest in scale and ambition: no swimming pool marquee, no resort theming. What it offers instead is the quietude and land security of one of Singapore’s more established north-east residential corridors.
With only 30 units, Jansen 28 sits firmly in boutique territory. The owner profile leans toward owner-occupiers who value privacy and low-density living over the communal facilities of a mega-condo. Transaction volume reflects this: only six sales are on record, underlining a community where residents tend to hold rather than flip. The address — Jansen Road — carries historical resonance in the area, a quiet cul-de-sac street flanked by landed houses and established trees that give the neighbourhood a distinctly unhurried feel.
The combination of 999-year tenure, established greenery, a strong school cluster, and a price point below many newer 99-year leasehold neighbours makes Jansen 28 a property that rewards patient buyers willing to look past the low transaction liquidity and modest common facilities.
Location & Connectivity
Jansen Road sits in a residential pocket between Kovan MRT (North-East Line) and Serangoon MRT (North-East Line / Circle Line interchange). The nearer station is Kovan MRT at approximately 0.91 km — close to the outer boundary of comfortable walking distance in Singapore’s heat. A direct bus service runs along Upper Serangoon Road and Kovan Road, making Kovan MRT easily reachable by a short one-stop ride. Serangoon MRT, the more powerful of the two (interchange, with NEX mall attached), is around 1.27 km away and similarly served by bus from the nearby thoroughfare.
For drivers, the location is well-positioned. The Tampines Expressway (TPE) and Pan Island Expressway (PIE) are reachable in under ten minutes, and the CBD is roughly 20–25 minutes in off-peak conditions. Paya Lebar commercial hub is about 10 minutes by car. The surrounding Kovan village strip along Upper Serangoon Road and Kovan Road provides a relaxed neighbourhood retail scene — coffeeshops, independent eateries, a Sheng Siong supermarket, and the iconic Kovan heartland market. Serangoon’s NEX mall, a 15-minute walk or two-stop bus ride, adds a full supermarket, cinema, food court, and public library.
The Kovan-to-Serangoon stretch of Hougang Avenue 8 and nearby connector paths also links to the park connector network, providing reasonable cycling and jogging access through the area’s green corridors. The neighbourhood is quiet by Singapore standards — Jansen Road itself sees minimal through-traffic — and the surrounding landed housing ensures that no high-density developments immediately adjoin the site.
Schools & Education
6 primary schools within the 1 km Priority Phase balloting radius.
| School | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Serangoon Secondary School | secondary | Within 1 km |
| Yangzheng Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
| Xinmin Secondary School | secondary | Within 1 km |
| Cedar Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
| Cedar Girls' Secondary School | secondary | Within 1 km |
| Xinmin Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
| Xinghua Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
| Zhonghua Secondary School | secondary | Within 1 km |
Facilities
With 30 units, Jansen 28 offers the facilities profile typical of a small boutique development: functional basics without resort-scale ambition. Residents can expect a swimming pool, gymnasium, and landscaped communal grounds, but the depth of amenity is necessarily limited by the development’s size and budget. This is a property where the draw is the street and the tenure, not the club facilities. For residents seeking badminton courts, function rooms, or a full range of sports amenities, the nearby Serangoon Stadium and Kovan CC provide supplementary public options.
“Jansen 28 is quiet, well-maintained, and the neighbours are friendly — very much an owner-occupier community. You won’t find mega-condo facilities here, but the grounds are well-kept and there’s a genuine sense of a small, close-knit development.”
— Resident review via PropertyGuru
The upside of boutique scale is maintenance cost efficiency. A 30-unit development means lower absolute maintenance bills than mega-condos with expansive resort facilities. Strata management decisions move faster in smaller developments, and residents tend to know one another — a qualitative but meaningful factor for long-term owner-occupiers who plan to live here rather than rent out.
Unit Sizes & Layout
As a 2000 completion with a small unit count, Jansen 28 reflects the construction norms of its era: floor plans tend toward practical efficiency rather than the open-concept maximalism of contemporary builds. Unit sizes are typical of late-1990s boutique condos — not the hyper-compressed footprints of post-2010 shoebox inventory, but also lacking the generous proportions of larger developments from the same period. At an average transacted price of around S$1.49M and a median of S$1.57M, the implied unit sizes work out at reasonable absolute dollar values for the area. Buyers looking for right-sizing or a manageable entry quantum to the Kovan-Serangoon corridor will find the price range accessible relative to newer 99-year leasehold alternatives.
The 999-year tenure starting 1876 means there are no CPF usage cliffs or loan tenure ceilings on the horizon that would affect the current generation of buyers. Full CPF and maximum loan tenures apply today and will continue to apply well beyond any realistic holding period. This stands in meaningful contrast to the 99-year leasehold condos nearby, where lease decay and CPF cutoffs are already entering medium-term buyer calculations.
| Bedrooms | Transactions | Avg PSF | Avg Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 BR | 1 | $1,094 | $730,000 |
| 3 BR | 2 | $1,289 | $1,609,000 |
| 4 BR | 3 | $1,019 | $1,658,333 |
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 6 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $730,000 to $1,955,000, averaging $1,487,167 (~$1,289 psf).
Rents range from $1,188 to $4,650 per month across 20 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 2.4%.
Price Appreciation
From 2021 to 2026, the average PSF has appreciated by 40.4% (from $918 to $1,289 psf).
Neighbourhood Comparison
Against the dominant new launches in the Serangoon-Kovan sub-market, Jansen 28 offers a fundamentally different value proposition. Chuan Park at S$2,596 psf delivers a fresh 99-year lease, MRT adjacency, and 916 units of scale — everything Jansen 28 lacks — but at a 101% PSF premium. The Florence Residences (S$1,745 psf) and Affinity at Serangoon (S$1,698 psf) are both 2018-vintage 99-year leaseholds with larger facility suites and broader rental appeal, priced at roughly a 32–35% premium over Jansen 28. Riverfront Residences (S$1,588 psf), also 99-year from 2018, sits closest in price but comes with 1,451 units and correspondingly richer amenities.
The honest comparison is this: if MRT walkability, facility breadth, and rental yield are your primary criteria, Jansen 28 loses to every named competitor. If tenure longevity, school-zone access, neighbourhood quiet, and absolute dollar value are your priorities, Jansen 28 makes a compelling case at its current S$1,289 psf. The 40% appreciation since 2021 suggests a growing buyer constituency that has reached the same conclusion — but the thin transaction history means each data point carries outsized weight. Buyers should verify individual unit condition and recent comparable sales carefully before committing.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JANSEN 28 | 999 yrs lease commencing from 1876 | 2000 | 30 | $1,289 |
| CHUAN PARK | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2024 | 2024 | 916 | $2,596 |
| THE FLORENCE RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2018 | 2021 | 1,410 | $1,745 |
| RIVERFRONT RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2018 | 2021 | 1,451 | $1,588 |
| AFFINITY AT SERANGOON | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2018 | 2021 | 1,012 | $1,698 |
| SERANGOON GARDEN ESTATE | Freehold | 2021 | — | $1,736 |
Lease Decay Analysis
The 99-year lease runs from 2000, meaning approximately 26 years have already been consumed. Roughly 73 years remain — still comfortably within the range where most banks will offer full financing without restrictions.
| Year | Lease remaining | Implication |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (now) | ~73 years | Full bank financing available |
| 2030 | ~69 years | CPF usage still unrestricted for most buyers |
| 2039 | ~59 years | Approaching 60-year threshold — CPF limits begin for some |
| 2059 | ~39 years | Significant financing restrictions for next buyer |
| 2099 | Expiry | Lease reverts to state |
For a buyer purchasing today with a 10-year horizon (exit around 2036), the lease situation is essentially a non-issue — you’d be selling a property with ~63 years remaining, which is still very bankable. The risk profile changes for longer holds.
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates JANSEN 28 across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“We chose Jansen 28 specifically for the school proximity — Cedar Primary and Yangzheng Primary are both within 600m. The neighbourhood is calm, neighbours are long-term owners, and Kovan village is a five-minute walk. It’s not a glamorous condo but it’s a very liveable home.”
— Owner-occupier review via EdgeProp
“The 999-year tenure was the deciding factor for us. At this price relative to the new launches nearby, you’re effectively getting near-freehold land in a good school zone at a 30–40% discount to comparable new builds. The facilities are basic but we were never going to use a resort pool anyway.”
— Buyer via PropertyGuru
“MRT is not walkable — you’ll need to bus or drive to Kovan station. That’s a real limitation if your household is MRT-dependent. Facilities are minimal for the maintenance fees. But the street is genuinely quiet and the tenure situation is unique in this district.”
— Resident feedback via 99.co
The consistent thread across resident accounts is a clear-eyed acceptance of the trade-off: minimal facilities and MRT dependence on public transport in exchange for neighbourhood quality, school access, and the uncommon peace of a small, stable owner-occupier community. Buyers who enter Jansen 28 knowing what it is tend to be satisfied; those expecting resort amenities or vibrant secondary market liquidity are likely to be disappointed.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- 999-year lease from 1876 — near-freehold tenure with no CPF or loan restrictions
- S$1,289 psf sits 30-100% below comparable new-launch 99-year leaseholds nearby
- Eight schools within 900m — exceptional P1 balloting and family planning asset
- PSF appreciation of 40% from 2021 ($918) to 2024 ($1,289)
- Quiet, low-traffic Jansen Road address in established landed enclave
- Boutique scale (30 units) means low-density living and tight owner-occupier community
- Kovan village charm within 5-10 min walk — independent eateries, market, supermarket
- No lease-decay cliff risk — CPF and full loan terms apply indefinitely
- Lower maintenance fees vs mega-condos with extensive resort facilities
- MRT not walkable — Kovan MRT at 0.91km requires bus or car for daily commute
- Facilities are basic — small pool and gym only, no sports courts or clubhouse
- Only 6 total sales on record — thin secondary market, difficult exit in short timeframe
- Gross yield 2.37% — modest for an investment-oriented purchase
- 2000 TOP vintage — full renovation budget required for kitchen and bathrooms
- Low unit count limits strata governance flexibility and common area upgrades
- No in-compound retail or F&B; errands require leaving the development
- Investment score 32 / ShiokNest score 29 — below-average composite rating
Verdict
Jansen 28 is a niche proposition: a 30-unit, 999-year leasehold boutique on a quiet Kovan residential street, completed in 2000, with basic facilities and a thin secondary market. For a specific buyer profile — primarily families who prize school access, owner-occupiers who value privacy over communal amenity, and investors seeking land-tenure security over yield — it delivers genuine value at S$1,289 psf. That price sits well below newer 99-year leasehold competitors like Chuan Park (S$2,596 psf), The Florence Residences (S$1,745 psf), and Affinity at Serangoon (S$1,698 psf).
The headline risk is liquidity. Six total sales on record means price discovery is limited and exit timelines can be long. A buyer who needs to sell within two or three years may find the secondary market thin. The 2.37% gross yield is modest — below what many newer 99-year leaseholds generate in the same area — reflecting tenant preferences for larger facilities-rich developments. The rental profile favours families attracted by the school cluster, which provides some demand floor but not the broad renter appeal of, say, a development closer to Serangoon MRT.
The PSF momentum from S$918 in 2021 to S$1,289 in 2024 — a 40% appreciation in three years — suggests the market is repricing the 999-year tenure advantage upward as newer 99-year alternatives launch at increasingly elevated entry prices. For an own-stay buyer with a long horizon, Jansen 28 offers a quiet, well-located, tenure-secure home in a neighbourhood with exceptional school access. For a yield investor or short-term speculator, the numbers are less compelling.