Welcome to the club: Sengkang sees first million-dollar resale apartment, Money News

Shortly after reaching the all-time high fixed resale price of $968,000, Sengkang crossed the $1 million line in the same month.

It is the first time that a second-hand apartment in that property reaches the million dollar mark.

A 1,539 sq ft maisonette in block 205B Compassvale Lane sold for exactly $1 million in April, HDB records showed.

Located on the seventh to ninth floor, the apartment is 25 years into its 99-year lease, which began in 1999.

Block 205B is a 10-minute walk from Buangkok MRT Station and Sengkang Grand Shopping Mall.

It is also located within a one to two kilometer radius of schools such as North Vista Primary School, Sengkang Primary School and North Vista Secondary School.

In a press release issued on Wednesday (May 2), Singapore Realtors Inc (SRI) said one of its agents facilitated its sale last month.

Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of research and data analysis at SRI, said Sengkang has been on the cusp of its first million-dollar sale for some time.

A five-bedroom HDB flat on Compassvale Drive, just a kilometer from the record-breaking latest flat, was previously the property’s most expensive resale flat with a price tag of $968,000.

“It had set the stage for the area to finally surpass the million-dollar threshold. This progression reflects Sengkang’s growing appeal among homebuyers,” Sandrasegeran said.

The average resale price of an executive and five-bedroom flat in Sengkang is $629,000 and $775,000 respectively, according to HDB records.

The million-dollar sale is an “exceptional case”

Speaking to AsiaOne on Friday, Sandrasegeran said she does not foresee any significant change in resale prices in the surrounding area.

The million-dollar sale is an “exceptional case,” he added, noting that 47 percent of resale transactions made in April in Sengkang were priced between $400,000 and just “less than $600,000.”

“Factors that typically play a role in million-dollar HDB resale transactions include location, placement on higher floors, larger unit size and lease balance,” Sandrasegeran said.

There are now only three towns out of Singapore’s 24 HDBs that have yet to record a resale transaction exceeding $1 million: Jurong West, Choa Chu Kang and Sembawang, he added.

Responding to questions about the number of flats valued in the millions of dollars, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said on April 27 that this is not a reflection of higher resale prices.

“These are the headlines, and the number of apartments selling for $1 million or more remains a very small proportion of the total volume of resale transactions carried out each year,” he added.

The minister said many of these apartments have special attributes that contribute to their high prices, such as being rarer or larger units, or being close to a shopping center.

ALSO READ: HDB resale prices rise for 6th consecutive month: Are multi-million dollar flats to blame? Analysts say

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