Singaporeans react to “Yishun 5-bedroom HDB flat downpayment cost less than $15K in 1984”

SINGAPORE: A Reddit post about how the downpayment for a 5-bedroom HDB flat costing less than $15,000 some 40 years ago generated much interest, causing many Singaporean commenters to take a trip down memory lane.

On Monday (Dec 16), a Redditor posted a photo of the then-price list and initial payment for 3, 4, and 5-bedroom flats, 4-room simplified flats, and executive apartments dated July 1, 1984.

The lowest downpayment was for a 3-bedroom flat at Woodlands or Yishun for $6,600, while for a 5-bedroom flat, a buyer paid just $14,600 initially.

In this day and age, where property prices in Singapore have soared over the past few years, the prices indicated on the 1984 sheet were unbelievably low.

For example, a 3-room flat in New Town had a sale price of $37,300 and was the least expensive HDB property, while the most expensive was an Executive Apartment in the inner urban area, which sold for $166,000.

Read also: “Buyer’s remorse?” – Middle-aged single man regrets purchasing resale HDB flat for S$1.1M

Nevertheless, HDB prices way back when seemed to be the least of the commenters’ concerns, many of whom decided to wax nostalgic about yesterdays gone by.

By far, this is the most popular comment concerned with spelling, of all things. When one Reddit user wrote, “CCK (Choa Chu Kang) was spelt as Caicuogang due to the Speak Mandarin Campaign,” it sparked others’ interest.

One thanked the commenter for pointing this out and added that they hadn’t realized that the movement “went that far to change a town’s name!”

Another noted that Nee Soon became Yishun, and a commenter wrote that this is why Hougang is spelt the way it is, despite being pronounced Aw-Kang. One added that Bukit Panjang was called Zhenghua, too.

Other commenters expressed shock when one Reddit user wrote that in 1984, at the time of “low” downpayment prices for HDB flats, one Malaysian ringgit was equal to S$0.92.

Another wrote that there hadn’t been any readily available internet back then, TVs still used analogue signals, and the USSR still existed, adding that “the ‘stop at 2′ campaign & graduates’ mothers’ scheme was still fresh in people’s mind in 1984.”

One Reddit user offered the prediction that “In the year 2064, they will be looking back and say in the year 2024, a Yishun 5-room down payment was only $250K.” /TISG

Read also: “Buyer’s remorse?” – Middle-aged single man regrets purchasing resale HDB flat for S$1.1M