With headlines proclaiming that HDB resale prices hitting a 8-year high in 2020 and private property prices increasing by 2.2 per cent , Singaporeans’ interest in property is undoubtedly on the rise in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In fact, the pandemic is a possible reason for the rising property market as people constrained by their existing home environments move to seek better homes while supply is constricted by constructions delays due to circuit breaker.
In 2020, 8 housing estates had HDB flats that sold for more than $1 million with these units being unique jumbo flats, executive maisonettes or apartments or central location Build-To-Order (BTO) flats.
Yet, the trend to raising property prices is not limited to these exceptional flat types as the overall HDB resale index has risen to 138.1 in 4Q2020 and an 5 per cent increase for 2020.
Will there be new cooling measures?
With the property market heating up in the midst of a recession, there has been speculation that the government may intervene with new cooling measures.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Heng Swee Keat, and Minister for National Development, Desmond Lee, were both quoted on separate occasions in January 2021 to indicate that the government is closely monitoring the local property market.
Additionally, Minister for National Development has also indicated that the government is considering measures to mitigate the lottery effect of prime region HDB BTO flats.
All these seem to suggest that changes are in store for the property market and that one should pay attention to Budget 2021.
Regardless of the potential changes, the fact of the matter remains: HDB flats are public housing and the mandate of the government is to ensure the affordability of public housing, not the capital appreciation or investment potential of public housing.
With these in mind, let us take a look at the most expensive HDB estates in Singapore in 2020.
Town
3-Room
4-Room
5-Room
Executive
Ang Mo Kio
$300,000
$405,400
690,000
–
Bedok
$290,000
$410,000
589,000
–
Bishan
$367,000
$520,000
718,000
900,000
Bukit Batok
$277,000
$385,000
535,000
649,400
Bukit Merah
$329,000
$680,000
745,000
–
Bukit Timah
–
–
–
–
Central
$421,000
$636,500
–
–
Choa Chu Kang
$335,000
$400,000
477,500
554,500
Clementi
$327,000
$497,500
690,000
*
Geylang
$278,500
$635,000
–
–
Hougang
$292,000
$410,000
521,500
672,800
Jurong East
$299,000
$422,500
524,000
640,000
Jurong West
$280,000
$375,000
468,000
580,000
Kallang/ Whampoa
$303,000
$552,500
654,000
–
Marine Parade
$354,000
–
–
–
Pasir Ris
–
$450,000
511,400
637,500
Punggol
$374,500
$475,500
549,400
–
Queenstown
$328,000
$792,500
917,500
–
Sembawang
–
$370,000
422,000
500,000
Sengkang
$352,400
$435,000
497,000
576,000
Serangoon
$308,900
$438,000
546,000
738,000
Tampines
$335,000
$435,000
545,000
681,000
Toa Payoh
$268,000
$566,000
757,500
–
Woodlands
$265,000
$374,000
445,000
639,000
Yishun
$295,000
$400,000
509,000
618,000
Serangoon
$308,900
$438,000
546,000
738,000
Tampines
$335,000
$435,000
545,000
681,000
Toa Payoh
$268,000
$566,000
757,500
–
Woodlands
$265,000
$374,000
445,000
639,000
Yishun
$295,000
$400,000
509,000
618,000
Let us compare the prices of 3-room, 4-room, 5-room and Executive HDB flats to find the most expensive towns. Here are the most expensive towns to buy these flat types:
1. 3-room HDB resale flats
#
Town
3-Room
1
Central
$421,000
2
Punggol
$374,500
3
Bishan
$367,000
4
Marine Parade
$354,000
5
Sengkang
$352,400
Bukit Timah, Sembawang and Pasir Ris were excluded due to insufficient resale transaction data.
Interestingly, 3-room flats are the only flat type where non-mature estates (Punggol and Sengkang) make it to the list of most expensive estates.
2. 4-room HDB resale flats
#
Town
4-Room
1
Queenstown
$792,500
2
Bukit Merah
$680,000
3
Central
$636,500
4
Geylang
$635,000
5
Toa Payoh
$566,000
Bukit Timah and Marine Parade were excluded due to insufficient resale transaction data.
Prices in Queenstown has benefited from the recent batch of flats at Dawson reaching the end of their Minimum Occupancy Period (MOP).
3. 5-room HDB resale flats
#
Town
5-Room
1
Queenstown
917,500
2
Toa Payoh
757,500
3
Bukit Merah
745,000
4
Bishan
718,000
5
Ang Mo Kio
690,000
Bukit Timah, Central, Marine Parade and Geylang were excluded due to insufficient resale transaction data.
Prices in Queenstown has benefited from the recent batch of flats at Dawson reaching the end of their Minimum Occupancy Period (MOP).
4. Executive HDB resale flats
#
Town
Executive
1
Bishan
$900,000
2
Serangoon
$738,000
3
Tampines
$681,000
4
Hougang
$672,800
5
Bukit Batok
$649,400
Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Bukit Timah, Bukit Merah, Central, Clementi, Geylang, Kallang/ Whampoa, Punggol, Queenstown, Toa Payoh, and Marine Parade were excluded due to insufficient resale transaction data. This is unsurprising as HDB appears to have phased out the construction of Executive flat type in recent years.
Median data doesn’t tell the whole story
While useful as a rule of thumb or a quick reference, the median HDB resale prices or resale price index doesn’t include information such as the age or location of the property which can contribute significantly to the price differentials.
The lack of sufficient resale transaction data can also skew the ranking as estates such as Central and Marine Parade are well known to be pricey, but they do not show up for the ranking of 5-room and executive flat types due to their scarcity.
Additionally, the fulfilment of the Minimum Occupancy Period for a batch of BTO flats can also bump up the resale prices in an estate. For example, the BTO flats at Dawson fresh out of MOP are likely to have bumped the resale prices in Queenstown.
Regardless, the mature estates continue their reign as the most expensive HDB estates. Only 3-room flats in Punggol and Sengkang break the norm to rank within the top five most expensive estates for the flat type.
This article was first published in Dollars and sense.
MoneyHDB pricesBTO flats (Build-to-order flats)Resale prices
