HDB Resale Flats smash S$980,000 Price Tag!

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

Seven units smash $980,000 price tag

SEVEN HDB resale flats have been sold for at least $980,000 - five in this year alone, property agency data show.

And according to the Singapore Real Estate Exchange, which collates information from the Housing Board and major property firms, a $1 million deal for an executive maisonette in Queenstown is in the works.

All seven transactions were in mature towns where there are well-developed transport links and amenities.

Three were in Bishan, two in Queenstown, and one each in Kallang and Toa Payoh. They range from 1,180 sq ft to 1,850 sq ft.

ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim said these flats are likely to be on higher floors, well maintained and nicely done up, saving the new owner a tidy sum in renovations.

Upward prices of mass market condominiums are also driving up the prices of premium public flats.

A typical unit at the 99-year leasehold Watertown condominium in Punggol, for instance, can fetch about $1,300 psf. In contrast, the latest record-breaking deal for the 1,800 sq ft executive maisonette in Bishan cost about $550 psf.

Buyers of premium flats are typically private-property downgraders who have cashed out and want to live in a flat of comparable size. They can also afford high cash over valuation (COV).

There were two recently reported transactions where such downgraders paid high COVs - $168,000 for an executive maisonette in Tampines and $135,000 for a five-room flat in Holland Drive.

Source: The Straits Times – 7 September 2012