The two-storey flat at Block 39 Jalan Bahagia is a landed corner terraced unit with an area of 210 sq m – which are considered rare attributes for an HDB flat. Photo: Google Street View
Adding to the record number of million-dollar HDB flats sold for this year, a 49-year old HDB terraced house in Whampoa was transacted for $1.268 million this month.
This breaks the record previously held by a five-room flat in The Pinnacle @ Duxton, which was sold for $1.258 million last September, reported The Straits Times (ST).
Suggested read: Is Pinnacle @ Duxton Worth Over 1 Million? We Compare It to Nearby HDB Flats and Condos
As of 21 June, Singapore saw 99 HDB resale flats change hands for at least $1 million this year – or the highest number of million-dollar flats transacted within a year. Of these, 12 were sold this month.
Overall, 401 million-dollar flats had already been sold since the first such transaction was registered in 2012.
The two-storey flat at Block 39 Jalan Bahagia is a landed corner terraced unit with an area of 210 sq m – which are considered rare attributes for an HDB flat.
And while it is marked by the HDB as a three-room maisonette, the sellers had remodelled the unit to feature four bedrooms and two toilets, with the revamp costing almost $250,000, said ST.
The unit does not have a private parking space but the estate has a designated HDB car park.
With its 99-year lease starting in 1972, the flat has a remaining lease of 50 years and a month when it was sold.
ST revealed this latest transaction was closed by PropertyLimBrothers, which is a property agent group under PropNex Realty.
Singapore only had 285 HDB landed terraced units that are mainly located within Whampoa and Queenstown estate.
The units were built by HDB’s predecessor, the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT), in the 1950s.
Owners of such units were given a fresh 99-year lease when HDB took over from SIT in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The HDB terraced cluster in Whampoa consist of three streets – Jalan Bahagia, Jalan Tenteram and Jalan Ma’mor.
For this year so far, the cluster saw seven units change hands.
The 210 sq m corner terraced unit is the biggest in Block 39, although bigger units of between 215 sq m and 307 sq m can be found within the estate.
The largest unit, at 307 sq m, is located at Block 52 Jalan Bahagia, while the second biggest, at 297 sq m, is at Block 58 Jalan Ma’mor.
While shelling out $1.268 million for a 49-year old HDB unit may come as a shock for some, an analyst shared that it is more appropriate to compare the HDB terraced units with 99-year private landed terraces.
Singapore Realtors Inc Chief Executive Tony Koe noted that 99-year leasehold landed properties are gaining popularity among the sandwiched class since the entry-level for freehold landed properties are beyond their reach.
And with the average price of 99-year private properties significantly rising from about $1.774 million in 2020 to $1.980 million this year, HDB terraced units offer a more affordable alternative.
“For a certain group of buyers, the age of the property is no longer crucial in their decision-making. Those cashing out from their current property of higher value are definitely the potential buyers of such HDB terrace units,” said Koe as quoted by ST.
“In short, maintaining their lifestyle with a million or two for retirement. Why not?”
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this story, email: victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg
