5-room HDB flat in Bukit Merah sold for record-breaking $1.45m; block has produced 7 million-dollar flats
PHOTO: Shin Min Daily News file
PUBLISHED ONOctober 22, 2023 4:10 AMByCandice CaiA five-room HDB flat has set a new resale record for five-room HDB flats in Bukit Merah, changing hands at $1.45 million this month.
It broke the previous record of $1.43 million for a five-room unit located on the 34th to 36th floors of the adjacent Block 95C; the unit was sold in September.
Before that, a unit on the 41st floor of the 48-storey Block 96A transacted at $1.4 million in May last year. It was the priciest transaction in the HDB resale market at the time.
Interestingly, the most recent record-breaking unit, also in Block 96A, is not located on a high floor, Shin Min Daily News reported.
Based on HDB data, the 113 sq m (1,216 sq ft) unit is located somewhere on the 19th to 21st storey.
The ERA agent who brokered the deal told Shin Min that the buyers are Singapore permanent residents originally from India. The young family liked the corner unit as well as its unit number. The unit was also in "move-in condition" and did not require any renovation.
The agent added that the sellers, who did not enlist an agent, had listed the flat at $1.68 million initially. They eventually reduced the asking price to $1.48 million, which attracted about 10 enquiries and six viewings from interested parties. The unit was snapped up within two weeks, with the transaction expected to be finalised in November.
Shin Min Daily News reported that since 2021, seven million-dollar flats has emerged from Block 96A, which comprises 48 storeys.
Lee Sze Teck, Senior Director, Data Analytics at Hutton's had shared in an interview with The Business Times last May that the almost-new flats in the mature estates could be a possible draw, along with the many amenities in the area.
Another possible factor is that the lease for units in the estate had commenced in 2019, making it only four years old.
"It is also rare to have new five-room flats in mature estates," Lee had said then.
Experts interviewed by Shin Min also posited that with the new HDB classification system for new BTO flats to be enforced in the later half of next year, current HDB flats which are not subjected to more stringent resale restrictions would be more popular.
These restrictions include the 10-year minimum occupation period for Prime and Plus units in choicer locations.
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