A Sengkang HDB Flat Was Resold for Nearly $1 Million (Again)

By
Lim Xuan Qi
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The Singaporean dream has always been simple, encapsulated in the five Cs: cash, car, credit card, condo and country club membership.

For every heterosexual couple, applying for a BTO together is synonymous with romance, but for unlucky singles and everyone else, they just might have to look to the resale market to fulfil their Singaporean dream.

The resale market, however, is even more cruel than yet another dating app rejection—an HDB resale flat in Sengkang recently sold for a whopping S$928k, nearly breaking the 1 million dollar mark and matching the current record price in the neighbourhood. 

Here’s what happened.

Sengkang, The New Estate That is No Longer That New

The current record in Sengkang was actually set by a high-floor flat from a neighbouring block, also sold for S$928k right after the five-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) came to an end—that’s the amount of time a BTO flat must be physically occupied by its original buyer before it can be sold. For flats under the Prime Location Public Housing (PLH) scheme, which essentially is a new model rolled out to ensure that housing prices in good locations remain affordable, the MOP lasts for ten years. 

The sale of the flat worked out for a capital gain (i.e. profit) of S$429k to S$507k on an initial price of $421k to S$499k on the five-room flats in the estate, a more-than-significant increase.

The estate’s prime location definitely was a huge factor in the high resale price. Situated at Blk 216C Compassvale Drive, it is directly opposite Sengkang MRT Station and the popular Compass One mall, making it convenient and highly accessible.

Kiasu parents desperate to clinch a spot at a good primary school for their kids favour the location too—it’s just a ten-minute walk away from Nan Chiau Primary School. Blame the rat race culture for the high resale prices, maybe?

An S$1 Million Flat at Sengkang Soon?

HDB flats selling for over a million is no longer a rare phenomenon. Sengkang’s closest cousin, Punggol, joined the million-dollar club in July last year, so it’s just a matter of time before we see a $1 million Sengkang HDB flat.

A million dollar flat is marked by a few notable characteristics, most often being its rarity, location, and size.

Sengkang is classed as a non-mature estate, which means that prices on these flats are often lower. For a flat to sell for a million or more in a non-mature estate, it usually needs to be larger than average or unique in some way.

When will it be Sengkang’s turn to boast a S$1 million sale, then?

According to 99.co, it’s not too soon—they predict that flats Bukit Panjang instead might hit that hefty price first. So if you’re thinking of getting a property in the lovely neighbourhood of Sengkang amongst your equally-delightful neighbours of stressed-out parents and crying babies, there’s no need to rush too much.

Real Estate Price Increase in 2022

Lest you’re not aware, it’s not only the rental market that has gone crazy recently.

Resale prices on HDBs increased by 10.3% in 2022, and private property home prices rose by 8.4% as well. Property prices have been rising steadily—November 2022 marked the 29th straight month of price increase for resale flats. 

Although the increase is quite steep, it’s actually a step down from 2021’s 12.7%, perhaps due to the implementation of cooling measures in the later part of the year. Nevertheless, property prices show no sign of falling—the housing market is still going strong past COVID-19, hopefully just like your finances. 

Also, it doesn’t help that stamp duty taxes have just increased.

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Lim Xuan Qi
Email: [email protected]