Ravi Chandran
Queenstown HDB flat sold for a record $1.08 million, leading analysts and property agents to predict that more record-breaking HDB flat sales will follow.
Located at Block 148 Mei Ling Street, the executive apartment has a balance lease of about 76 years. Close to Queenstown MRT station and Anchorpoint mall, the higher floor unit features 1,615 sq ft and sold for about $669 psf on the built-up area.
The sellers of the Queenstown HDB flat , who have been staying at the flat for 23 years since 1995, engaged ERA Realty property agent Mohamed Ameen to broker the sale. Speaking to reporters, Ameen revealed that the unit had been listed with an asking price of $1.1 million for less than two weeks, and attracted over five groups of buyers for viewing during this time.
The Queenstown HDB flat was eventually sold to a Singaporean woman who previously stayed at a private property and was looking to downgrade. Ameen shared, “The buyer was willing to pay a premium for the unit due to its large size and proximity to an MRT station.”
There are several unique selling points that helped fetch top dollar for the Queenstown HDB flat.
For one, the size of the flat was notable – a 5-room flat at premium HDB property, the Pinnacle@Duxton in Tanjong Pagar, is only 1,141 sq ft large. Ameen added that executive apartments are also only available in limited supply and that this raises the appeal of the Queenstown flat, making it more sought after.
According to Ameen, this will heighten demand for executive apartments and executive mansionettes this year as the en bloc fever will cause owners of en bloc properties to seek sizeable replacement homes.
Pointing out data from HDB, Ameen shared that there have been 10 resale flat deals of more than $1 million that concluded in the first few months of 2018: two of these resale flats are at Meiling Street, seven at Pinnacle@Duxton, and one at City View @ Boon Keng which is a Design, Build and Sell Scheme development. These sales are more significant than the three-million dollar deals at the Pinnacle@Duxton recorded in the first quarter of 2017.
Ameen theorised that this would lead to more record-breaking prices for resale properties in the near future, particularly in the Queenstown area given that HDB flats in the Dawson estate close by will hit their five-year minimum occupation period two years from now, in 2020.
https://www.icompareloan.com/resources/hdb-resale-portal-close-deal-sooner/
Ameen forecast, “The high-floor flats there offer beautiful unblocked views, and we can expect to see transactions breaching the million-dollar mark.” His expectations match PropNex Realty CEO Ismail Gafoor’s views that HDB resale prices could climb by 1 per cent this year, especially given the ongoing en bloc fever.
This would reverse the decline of resale flat prices, which were slipping after hitting a peak in 2013, caused by measures introduced by the Government to cool the public housing market. Such measures include the restriction of HDB mortgage loan terms to a maximum of 25 years and the Mortgage Servicing Ratio cap of 30 per ycent.
Paul Ho, chief mortgage consultant at icompareloan.com, said, “as more and more condominiums make new benchmarks, HDB estates surrounding and around premium condo estates that has risen in value will see a higher upside.”
https://www.icompareloan.com/resources/busting-myths-cpf-grants-buying-hdb/
He added: “Those around Tanjong Pagar, Queensway, Kallang, Orchard, River Valley and Newton may see more and more prices transacted above 1m. Unfortunately a 1m hdb property is going to become more and more common.”
—
If you are home-hunting, our Panel of Property agents and the mortgage consultants at icompareloan.com can help you with affordability assessment and a promotional home loan. Just email our chief mortgage consultant, Paul Ho, with your name, email and phone number at paul@icompareloan.com.
