How we sold Ascent @ 456 within one month at the highest price in 2025
- Vann Lim
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Most property owners don’t have a selling problem.
They have a capital allocation problem.
When this family reached out to us about their unit at Ascent @ 456, they were not distressed sellers. In fact, they had done what many Singapore investors do. They bought a freehold property in District 12, held it for more than ten years, and rented it out consistently.
On paper, everything looked fine.
But when we ran the numbers, the annualised capital growth was only 0.79%.
That is not negative. But it is not wealth-building either.
And when you are planning asset progression into a second property, “stable” is not enough. You must ask a harder question:
Is this asset still working hard for you?
Once they decided to move forward, our mandate was clear — exit strategically, exit confidently, and exit at the best possible price.
Within one month, we secured the highest transaction recorded in 2025 for the development.
Here is how we did it.
The reality of selling a boutique freehold condo in Balestier
Selling a unit at Ascent @ 456 is not like selling a 500-unit mass-market condominium.
It is a boutique freehold development in Balestier with only 28 units. There is no full-sized swimming pool. There is no gym. No tennis court. Over the past five years, there were only 15 transactions. Two of them did not make money.
Low transaction volume creates uncertainty.
Buyers ask:
Is this easy to exit in future?
How do I benchmark value?
Why are there so few transactions?
Liquidity matters in property.
The unit itself, however, was strong:
3 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms
Bright and breezy orientation
Natural light and good ventilation
Efficient dumbbell layout with no wasted space
It was functional, practical, and highly livable.
But a good layout alone does not command a record price.
Strategic positioning does.
Pricing strategy: Data before emotion
When sellers ask, “What is the highest price we can get?” my answer is simple:
The market decides — but we influence how the market sees you.
For boutique developments like Ascent @ 456, relying only on internal transaction history is insufficient. There aren’t enough comparable sales to form a reliable benchmark.
So we expanded the dataset.
We studied nearly eight comparable boutique freehold condominiums in the Balestier–Novena–Toa Payoh area. Similar unit sizes. Similar tenure. Similar buyer profiles.
We analysed:
Historical transaction prices
Price per square foot trends
Time on market
Floor-level premiums
Freehold vs leasehold differentials
But past transactions are only half the equation.
Past price is not future price.
So we also monitored live listings:
Who reduced their asking price?
By how much?
How long were they on the market?
Which listings disappeared — and were they sold or withdrawn?
This is the part many sellers never see.
We track real-time pricing intelligence continuously. If a competing listing adjusts downward by $20,000, we want to know why. If a listing vanishes, we investigate whether a deal was concluded.
Because pricing is dynamic.
And if you are paying a professional service fee, you deserve clarity — not guesswork.
Property marketing: A well-priced property still needs attention
Pricing gets you shortlisted.
Marketing gets you chosen.
Before we even take photos, we prepare the unit properly with the owners or tenants. Decluttering is not cosmetic — it is positioning. A clean space increases perceived value.
If physical tidying is not feasible within a short timeline, we use AI tools to remove loose items digitally, without altering layout or built-in features. We have done this successfully before, including for larger HDB units such as this Sembawang executive apartment.
But we do not stop at photography.
Because five still images are no longer enough in today’s property market.
We believe in video.
Why video was critical for selling Ascent @ 456
Still photos show space.
Video tells a story.
And the story of Ascent @ 456 goes beyond the unit itself.
The development is about a 10–15-minute walk from Novena and Toa Payoh MRT stations. Drivers enjoy convenient access to the PIE. Daily amenities such as Zhongshan Mall and Velocity @ Novena are nearby. Balestier’s food scene is right at the doorstep.
But the more compelling narrative lies in Novena’s transformation.
Health City Novena: The structural rental catalyst
The Health City Novena Master Plan spans 17 hectares and is targeted for completion by 2030. It integrates 15 buildings, including expanded facilities around Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, as well as new healthcare and medical education facilities.
Why does this matter?
Employment clusters create housing demand.
Medical professionals, specialists, expatriates, and healthcare staff need rental housing within proximity. Within a 500-metre radius, there are only about 36 residential developments — a limited supply relative to institutional demand.
Ascent @ 456, located roughly 600 metres away, stands to benefit from this structural demand.
This is not speculation.
This is urban planning meeting rental economics.
And such a narrative cannot be fully expressed through static images.
So we produced two types of video:
Short-form content (Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts) — punchy, direct, designed for attention.
Long-form YouTube analysis — deeper dive into location, rental demand, transformation plans, and suitability for different buyer profiles.
Interestingly, we secured the deal even before finalising the long-form edit. But this is a sneak peak of what we do for our clients:
That is the power of clarity in positioning.
Listing psychology on PropertyGuru
How you display price matters.
If the target price is $1,000,000, do you list it as “$1,000,000 negotiable” or “From $990,000”?
Buyers filter by price bands. A slight adjustment in presentation can increase visibility significantly without compromising positioning.
Beyond PropertyGuru, we amplified exposure through our own website, which attracts consistent daily traffic. Check out our Singapore property listings here.
Distribution today is multi-channel. Relying on a single portal is insufficient if you aim to achieve the top price.
Dual positioning for Ascent @ 456: Investment and own-stay
Not all properties can be positioned for both investors and owner-occupiers.
Ascent @ 456 can.
For investors:
Freehold tenure in District 12
Proximity to Novena Medical Hub
Structural rental demand
Limited boutique supply
For own-stay buyers:
Efficient dumbbell layout
Quiet, low-density environment
Central connectivity without Orchard pricing
We do not fabricate narratives. We support each positioning with data.
When an investor views the unit, we are ready with rental comparables and yield discussion. When a family views the unit, we focus on lifestyle, connectivity, and long-term liveability.
Preparation builds confidence.
Confidence accelerates decisions.
Helping buyers remember
Here is a reality most sellers ignore:
Buyers forget details.
They visit multiple properties in a weekend. They take photos. They mix up layouts.
So we provide a structured post-viewing deck:
Layout analysis
Location insights
Transformation plans
Investment angle
We give them notes.
Because clarity reduces hesitation.
And hesitation is what stretches your listing from one month to six.
The outcome: Two weekends, one record price for Ascent @ 456
With disciplined pricing, strong visual storytelling, multi-channel amplification, and structured follow-up, we sealed the deal within two weekends of active viewings.
Highest transaction in 2025 for Ascent @ 456.
But the real success was not the record.
It enabled our clients to redeploy their capital onto a stronger growth path.
Property is not about holding forever.
It is about holding the right asset at the right stage of your wealth journey.
Selling at the highest price is not an accident
Selling a boutique freehold condo in Singapore — especially one with limited transactions like Ascent @ 456 — is not about luck.
It is about:
Deep pricing intelligence
Real-time market monitoring
Strategic positioning
Professional visual storytelling
Structured buyer follow-up
Negotiation discipline
We do not believe in simply listing and waiting.
We believe in execution.
We do all this for our exclusive clients because we believe in delivering superior service — not average representation.
Our goal is simple:
To help our clients progress their assets. To help them exit at the highest possible price. To help them maximise profit so they can redeploy capital strategically.
That is what we did for Ascent @ 456. And that is what we aim to do for every serious seller we represent.
If you are considering selling your property — whether it is a boutique freehold condo in Balestier, a unit near Novena Medical Hub, or any asset you are evaluating for progression — let’s have a proper discussion.
Not just about selling.
But about whether your current property is still the best use of your capital.
Because selling well is not about closing a deal.
It is about moving forward with clarity.
Contact Vann or Ben for your property planning.
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