This year alone, five HDB flats were sold for $900,000. There have been a total of seven such sales overall.
An executive maisonette has been sold for a record $980,000 on the first day of its open house.
The sale smashed a previous record of $910,000 for the most expensive HDB flat sold in Singapore set by the sale of an executive flat in Toa Payoh in May.
The Bishan flat's new owners paid a $200,000 cash over valuation (COV), which is believed to be the highest COV ever paid for a flat.
The 1,800 sq ft flat is located on the 19th floor in Bishan Street 13 and is 25 years old. It also comes with a 150 sq ft roof terrace.
Schools, amenities, Bishan MRT station and the bus interchange are located nearby.
Dennis Wee Group property agent Thomas Hee told The Straits Times that there are only 48 maisonette units with open terrace roofs in Singapore.
The sale is undergoing processing and will be finalised in two months.
At about $550 per sq ft, the flat is about half the price of a similar condominium unit in the area.
According to ST, a condominium unit of the same size in Bishan would fetch $1,300 psf.
Analysts the paper spoke to also indicated that the rare sale was unlikely to affect resale flat prices or COV rates.
This year alone, five HDB flats were sold for $900,000. There have been a total of seven such sales overall.
ST also reported that an executive maisonette in Queenstown might soon be sold for $1 million.
Flats which have sold for $900,000 or more were from Bishan, Queenstown, Kallang and Toa Payoh. These are all mature estates with good access to infrastructure and amenities.
The units are between 1,180 sq ft to 1,850 sq ft in size.
Analysts say that homeowners who choose to pay top prices for premium flats tend to be downgrading from private-property and can afford to pay high COV rates.
An executive maisonette owner recently told The New Paper that he paid $168,000 in COV for his Tampines flat, and it was worth every cent.
ljessica@sph.com.sg
Source: AsiaOne Fri, Sep 07, 2012