'Getting out of hand': Netizens baulk at $1.5m price tag for 5-room HDB flat in Queenstown

Will yet another HDB flat in the Queenstown area breach the record for the most expensive HDB flat ever sold?

According PropertyGuru, a 5-room flat located at 42a Margaret Drive is being listed for $1.5 million.

Based on a YouTube video put up by agents from PropertyLimBrothers, the 1,194 sq ft unit located at the SkyOasis @ Dawson, boasts an "amazing unblocked greenery view".

The view must indeed be dazzling, considering that the unit is "above the 40th floor" — with its rarity contributing to the premium placed on such units, they explained.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IyaWu9g_NQ[/embed]

Besides the sprawling views from every window, another reason for its price could be that from SkyOasis, the Queenstown MRT station is a mere five-minute walk away — the shortest distance to the MRT among the the new Dawson developments.

News of the listing sparked fervent discussion on Reddit, with many users expectedly baulking at the sky-high pricing for an HDB flat.

"This is absurd," wrote one commenter while another blasted that prices are "getting out of hand".

But others reminded that buyers should not be all that surprised.

After all, the development is just a three-minute drive away from SkyTerrace@Dawson, where a five-room HDB flat in July 2022 transacted at a cool $1,418,000 — an unbeaten record so far.

Two months prior, a 1,216 sq ft five-room unit at City Vue @ Henderson was sold for $1.4 million.

Some were also curious as to why the unit at SkyOasis@Dawson, which got its Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) only in 2021, could be listed for sale.

The Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) for typical Build-to-Order (BTO) flats is supposed to be five years.

However, it was reported that the owners may have booked the flat years earlier under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS), which qualifies them to put the unit up for sale despite living there for only about two years.

This was also highlighted by a Reddit user.

The estimated MOP of the unit is listed as April 6, 2023. 

Million-dollar flats 1 per cent of all resale transactions

Singapore's HDB property prices have hit fever pitch in recent years, with the government announcing further measures in Sept 2022 to cool the red-hot property market in Singapore.

Besides tightening the loan-to-value limit of 80 per cent for HDB loans, it also introduced an interest rate floor of three per cent for HDB loan eligibility letter applications from Sept 30.

Private home owners hoping to transition to living in an HDB would also be subjected to a 15-month wait after selling their homes.

Responding to a parliamentary question from Member of Parliament Gerald Giam about the prices of resale flats, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee told parliament in Nov 2022 that million-dollar flats were "headline grabbing prices" that have caused concern and "fuelled market psychology". 

Million-dollar flats make up about 1 per cent of all resale transactions in the last two years, he said. 

ALSO READ: 'Crazy state of housing market': Netizens react to man offering top bunk bed in Pasir Ris flat for $600 rent

candicecai@asiaone.com

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