SINGAPORE: A 39-year-old resale flat was sold for over a million dollars in a record transaction last month. According to information on the Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) website, the executive maisonette was sold last month for $1.06 million, despite its age and the fact that it has a remaining leasehold period of 61 years and seven months.
The unit, located on the 10th to 12th floors of Block 326, Ubi Avenue 1, boasts an area of 146 square meters. The transaction represented a new high for HDB properties in Ubi. The eye-watering price for an almost 40-year-old flat has raised eyebrows as properties with shorter remaining leases typically have lower demand and prices, especially given the limited financing options for older flats.
The million-dollar sale of this flat showcases the enduring appeal of mature areas and their prime locations while highlighting the continued demand for housing and skyrocketing prices for resale flats despite cooling measures.
The sale is one of the most expensive transactions for resale flats this year, after the sale of the 50-year-old jumbo four-room unit in Moh Guan Terrace, which was sold for S$1.5 million in June. Both sales suggest that factors such as size, rarity, and location can outweigh concerns about lease decay, financing restrictions, and the property’s age.
The Moh Guan Terrace property has only over 48 years left on its lease, per HDB’s resale price portal.
Interestingly, Block 50 Moh Guan Terrace – where the unit is located – does not even have an elevator. The block was slated to undergo HDB’s Home Improvement Programme (HIP) and Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP) after 2017, but it appears that these plans did not materialize.
The absence of a lift in the block, likely due to architectural constraints, adds another layer of intrigue to the sale, considering that the unit has fetched top dollar and is located on the highest floor.
99.co said that the size and rarity of the flat may justify its exorbitant price. Unlike a standard HDB public housing unit, this particular flat is categorized as an adjoined flat, boasting an expansive floor area of 176 sqm (1,894 sqft).
In comparison, a 4-room HDB Built-to-Order (BTO) flat typically spans 93 sqm (1,001 sqft). The price per square foot (psf) for this unique unit comes to approximately S$792, which falls below the average psf price of S$839 for HDB resale flats in Tiong Bahru this year.
The scarcity of such large units and their prime locations might explain the buyers’ willingness to pay record-breaking sums.