Recently MOP-ed HDB flats that have sold for double their BTO price

With HDB flats, after completing the five-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP), owners have the option to put the whole flat for rent or for sale on the resale market. They can also choose to buy private property after the MOP.

In light of the recent record transaction of a Canberra BTO flat, we decided to look through even more HDB resale transactions of recently MOP-ed BTO flats.

More specifically, we focused on the BTO flats with leases starting in 2018.

Through our findings, we found several flats that were sold at double the BTO price (some even more!). This also means that if we exclude costs like the Buyer's Stamp Duty (BSD) and renovation costs, these flats have made a paper profit of 100 per cent (or even more for some).

Here are the recent MOP-ed BTO projects with these transactions.

Punggol Vue

Address	Flat type and floor area	Storey range	Resale transaction date	Remaining lease when sold	Resale price	BTO price	Paper profit*
327A Sumang Walk	Two-room, 506 sq ft	10 to 12	November 2022	95 years one month	$350,000	$111,000 – $141,000	$209,000 – $239,000 (~178 per cent)
327B Sumang Walk	Two-room, 506 sq ft	13 to 15	November 2022	95 years one month	$341,000	$111,000 – $141,000	$200,000 – $230,000 (~171 per cent)
327A Sumang Walk	Three-room, 732 sq ft	Seven to nine	October 2022	95 years two months	$430,000	$179,000 – $218,000	$212,000 – $251,000 (~117 per cent)

*Paper profit is calculated by deducting the BTO price from the resale price. The percentage is calculated based on the median of the BTO price and the median of the paper profit. 

Punggol Vue caught our eye because of the $341,000 transaction for a two-room flat here, which was an all-time high for a two-room at Punggol at the time of the resale registration date.

But this flat held the record for a short time only, before another two-room flat at a different block and lower floor sold for $350,000 this month.

Location-wise, it’s not near the centre of Punggol. But having the Nibong LRT at a four-minute walk away and Punggol Cove Primary right next to the BTO might be a few attributes that drew the buyers to these flats.

Fern Grove @ Yishun

Address	Flat type and floor area	Storey range	Resale transaction date	Remaining lease when sold	Resale price	BTO price	Paper profit
675B Yishun Avenue 4	Two-room, 506 sq ft	Seven to nine	November 2022	95 years one month	$328,000	$94,000 – $118,000	$210,000 – $234,000 (~209 per cent)
675B Yishun Avenue 4	Two-room, 506 sq ft	13 to 15	November 2022	95 years one month	$325,000	$94,000 – $118,000	$207,000 –$231,000 (~207 per cent)
677A Yishun Avenue 4	Four-room, 1,001 sq ft	Four to six	November 2022	95 years	$580,000	$252,000 to $302,000	$278,000 – $328,000 (~109 per cent)
673A Yishun Avenue 4	Five-room, 1,206 sq ft	13 to 15	September 2022	95 years 3 months	$740,000	$316,000 to $386,000	$354,000 – $424,000 (~111 per cent)

Next on our list is Fern Grove @ Yishun. Like what we’ve seen with Punggol Vue, the $325,000 two-room transaction here was a record for the flat type in Yishun for a short while. Soon after, another unit of the same type at the same block (but on a lower floor) was sold at $328,000.

Located around a 13-minute walk to Khatib MRT, it’s not the nearest to the MRT. But it’s located between amenities such as Wisteria Mall, Yishun Park and Safra Yishun.

What’s even more interesting to us is that this BTO is also located along Yishun Avenue 4, aka Yishun’s millionaire row.

You see, here’s where a few resale executive apartments in the estate have breached the million-dollar mark. The most recent one is the multi-gen flat at Blk 666, sold for a record $1.063 million.

EastCrown @ Canberra

Address	Flat type and floor area	Storey range	Resale transaction date	Remaining lease when sold	Resale price	BTO price	Paper profit
129B Canberra Street	Two-room, 506 sq ft	10 to 12	August 2022	95 years three months	$358,000	$89,000 to $109,000	$249,000 – $269,000 (~262 per cent)

Further north in Sembawang, we have another recently MOP-ed flat that fetched an all-time high resale price.

Over at EastCrown @ Canberra BTO, a two-room flat was sold for a record $358,000, making a paper gain of around $249,000 to $269,000. This is approximately 2.5 times of the BTO price!

Amenities-wise, the BTO is around an 11-minute walk from Canberra MRT and Canberra Plaza.

Besides EastCrown, another BTO in the area that recently MOP-ed is EastLawn @ Canberra, which is where a five-room flat was sold for a record $745,000.

Ghim Moh Edge

Address	Flat type and floor area	Storey range	Resale transaction date	Remaining lease when sold	Resale price	BTO price	Paper profit
32 Ghim Moh Link	Three-room, 732 sq ft	37 to 39	September 2022	94 years 10 months	$730,000	$310,000 to $374,000	$356,000 – $420,000 (~113 per cent)
32 Ghim Moh Link	Four-room, 1,001 sq ft	37 to 39	June 2022	95 years one month	$1.018 million	$450,000 to $594,000	$424,000 – $568,000 (~95 per cent)

Ghim Moh Edge is one of the recently MOP-ed BTOs we shortlisted in a previous article because it’s relatively near the MRT (around an 11-minute walk to Dover MRT).

It’s also just a short walk from the Ulu Pandan BTO launching in November.

But we’re including it here because of the huge paper profit made from the above transactions. Especially the 4-room flat that breached the million-dollar mark!

Besides its location and remaining lease, one possible reason the four-room flat fetched such a high price is its storey height. The flat may also offer an unblocked view of the Holland landed housing estate across the Ulu Pandan Canal.

Skyline II @ Bukit Batok

Address	Flat type and floor area	Storey range	Resale transaction date	Remaining lease when sold	Resale price	BTO price	Paper profit
296B Bukit Batok Street 22	Three-room, 732 sq ft	16 to 18	August 2022	94 years eight months	$510,000	$200,000 to $253,000	$257,000 – $310,000 (~125 per cent)
296A Bukit Batok Street 22	Five-room, 1,216 sq ft	37 to 39	June 2022	94 years 10 months	$935,000	$408,000 to $530,000	$405,000 – $527,000 (~99 per cent)

Skyline II @ Bukit Batok BTO stood out to us because we have an all-time high for a five-room flat in Bukit Batok. Sold for almost a million dollars, the owners netted around $405,000 to $527,000 in paper profit.

Location-wise, it’s around a 10-minute walk to Bukit Batok MRT. But even more eye-opening for us is that this BTO is actually along the Pan-Island Expressway, which people tend to avoid when buying a house.

Waterway View

Address	Flat type and floor area	Storey range	Resale transaction date	Remaining lease when sold	Resale price	BTO price	Paper profit
682C Edgedale Plains	Three-room, 732 sq ft	10 to 12	September 2022	95 years one month	$490,000	$181,000 – $224,000	$266,000 – $309,000 (~142 per cent)
682C Edgedale Plains	Three-room, 732 sq ft	13 to 15	November 2022	94 years  10 month	$490,000	$181,000– $224,000	$266,000 – $309,000 (~142 per cent)
684B Edgedale Plains	Five-room, 1,216 sq ft	Four to six	October 2022	94 years 11 months	$850,800	$365,000 – $474,000	$376,800 – $485,800 (~103 per cent)

Waterway View is another recently MOP-ed BTO in Punggol with notable transactions in the past couple of months.

It’s also not near the centre of Punggol; the nearest LRT is Oasis LRT, which is a seven-minute walk away from the BTO. But we think one possible reason these flats have managed to fetch such a high price is that they offer unblocked views of the sea. At least for now.

When we looked at the URA master plan, areas north of the BTO have been designated for residential. These future developments may block the view in future.

Bonus: Cheng San Court

Address	Flat type and floor area	Storey range	Resale transaction date	Remaining lease when sold	Resale price	BTO price	Paper profit
590A Ang Mo Kio Street 51	Three-room, 732 sq ft	28 to 30	October 2022	95 years five months	$670,000	$282,000 – $344,000	$326,000 – $388,000 (~114 per cent)
590A Ang Mo Kio Street 51	Four-room, 1,001 sq ft	28 to 30	October 2022	95 years five months	$968,000	$435,000 – $516,000	$452,000 – $533,000 (~104 per cent)

Yes, we know that at the beginning of the article, we mentioned that we’re just focusing on the flats whose lease started in 2018.

But as we looked through more resale HDB transactions, Cheng San Court caught our eye because even though the lease only started in 2019, some flats here have already entered the resale market.

Notably, both transactions above are the current record holders for three-room and four-room flats at Ang Mo Kio.

Even more intriguing is that the four-room flat here was sold for $968,000, just $32,000 away from breaching the million-dollar mark!

ALSO READ: Queenstown and Kallang-Whampoa BTO projects to be launched under PLH model on Nov 23

This article was first published in 99.co.