New HDB resale record: 5-room DBSS flat in Toa Payoh sold for $1.56 million

A five-room unit in Toa Payoh has just become the most expensive resale HDB flat in Singapore after it was recently sold for $1.56 million. 

ERA said in a statement on Thursday (Nov 10) that the "successful sale" of the unit is located at The Peak, which is a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) development along Lorong 1A Toa Payoh.

DBSS units are HDB flats that were built by private developers and characterised by unique external features, according to HDB. 

On the sellers, ERA said that they are a self-employed middle-aged couple who are looking to upgrade to a private residence. 

"On the other side of this landmark transaction were buyers seeking to elevate their living standards [and are] transitioning from a four-room flat," they added.

Completed in 2012, The Peak consists of 1,203 units that range from three- to five-rooms.

These units have around 88 years left in the 99-year lease.

This resale transaction is not listed on the HDB website as of Friday (Nov 10), according to checks by AsiaOne.

"The sale of the top-floor unit at The Peak not only reflects the changing aspirations of homeowners but also establishes a new standard in the HDB property market," Kingsley Zheng, the property agent who closed the sale, said.

"I am humbled and proud to have been a part of this historic transaction that highlights the ever-evolving real estate landscape in Singapore."

AsiaOne has contacted Zheng for more information.

There were about 20 five-room flats in The Peak that were sold in the past year, according to HDB records. They range from $880,000 for a lower-floor unit to a $1.46 million unit located between the 40th and 42nd floor. 

The second-highest transaction record for a HDB resale flat, at $1.5 million in June, is for a jumbo four-room unit at Block 50 Moh Guan Terrace.

Another top-floor five-room unit at The Peak holds the distinction as the third most expensive HDB resale flat. It went for $1.46 million in August.

Million-dollar resale flats are 'headline grabbing prices': Desmond Lee

The prices of HDB resale flats have gone up by 0.5 per cent in October, the Straits Times reported on Thursday (Nov 9).

This was after a 0.6 per cent decline in September, according to data from real estate portals 99.co and SRX.

The same report also indicated that forty-one flats changed hands for at least $1 million in October, taking the total number of million-dollar transactions so far in 2023 to 377.

This breaks the record of 369 million-dollar flat transactions for the whole of 2022, reported the Straits Times. 

Speaking in Parliament last November, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said that about three per cent of HDB flat owners own at least one private property and nearly half of them have rent out their flats. 

In a reply to questions from MP Gerald Giam (WP-Aljunied) and NCMP Leong Mun Wai (PSP) then, the minister said that this figure has fallen by about 0.3 per cent in the last three years.

Giam had also expressed concerns that resale flats would be beyond the reach of many Singaporeans, with more than 266 flats sold for more than $1 million between January and September this year.

In response, Lee said that million-dollar flat were "headline grabbing prices" that have caused concern and "fuelled market psychology" - causing people to worry and affect the resale market.

He added that such flats make up about one per cent of all resale transactions in the last two years.

"We will act decisively but carefully to ensure that the property market remains in line with economic fundamentals," Lee said.

READ ALSO: HDB flat in Ubi with 61 years remaining lease sold for record $1.06 million

chingshijie@asiaone.com