After hearing that a Housing and Development Board (HDB) executive flat in Woodlands recently sold for over a million dollars, parents expressed concern that their children would never have the means to afford housing in the future.
HDB resale prices continued on their upward trajectory since 2020, with one flat in Woodlands reselling for S$1,040,000, the highest price of its kind in the last six months.
According to Uchify blog site, the executive flat is located at Block 832 Woodlands Street 83, with 71.5 years left on the lease.
The property is around 2,034 sq ft (189 sq m), the larger than average size justifying the price tag. The block is also near the Woodlands Park Connector, Causeway Point, 12 childcare centres and two kindergartens.
Executive apartments were first introduced in the 1980s and phased out in 2005, noted Uchify.
A jumbo flat in Yishun also made news in March this year as it went for S$1,038,000, a first for this HDB town in northern Singapore.
The nearly 2013 sq ft (187 sq m) flat is the second non-mature HDB estate to cross the S$1 million thresholds.
Prices in Singapore’s residential property sector are expected to continue growing given the tapering supply and increasing interest rates in 2022, the popular property website PropertyGuru predicted last December.
The property sector has displayed incredible resilience in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic but may need to contend with developing macroeconomic and property supply trends in 2022, said the website in its annual report of the country’s property market outlook.
The Yishun jumbo flat surprised residents in the area since the apartment is around 30 years old with a remaining lease of 69 years and four months.
Some expressed concern that prices of flats will continue to escalate, putting them out of reach of their children and grandchildren.
Netizens responded similarly to the Woodlands executive flat. “Even Woodlands HDB flat sold for million dollars. Then town area HDB flats will start selling for S$2M or more. Xiao liao. How can my children afford it?” asked Facebook user Ande Liew.
Others wondered why HDB flats attract such high prices. “Isn’t condo worth more?” asked Facebook user Jaishri.
“I really don’t understand why people would want to pay S$1 Million for an HDB flat,” added netizen Fel Mic. /TISG