Million-dollar 4-room HDB resale flats: What, where, why and when?

In May 2022, two of the 30 million-dollar HDB resale flats sold were 4-roomers. One was a 1,012-sqft flat in Pinnacle@Duxton while the other was a 1,023-sqft flat in Bishan’s Natura Loft. Few realise that the Pinnacle@Duxton flat, which sold for $1.228 million, is a record in the history of 4-room HDB flats.

While it’s de rigueur for executive and 5-room flats to fill the million-dollar list (and hit records), a worthwhile barometer is to monitor the number of 4-room flats gradually breaching this price ceiling (and breaking their own records).

First 4-room HDB flat that breached the $1 million mark, total sold (so far) and current record holders

Since 2018 – the first year a 4-room HDB flat hit the $1 million mark – there have been 87 4-room HDB flats sold above $1 million.

Across this period (Jan 1, 2018 till June 15, 2022), that’s 14.19 per cent of million-dollar flats sold compared to 5-rooms (405, or 66.07 per cent) and executive (121, or 19.74 per cent).

Note that we’ve excluded million-dollar transactions of 3-room HDB terrace houses at Jalan Bahagia and Jalan Ma’Mor since we’re looking at resale flats.

Notably, the first 4-room HDB flat that breached the $1 million mark was a 1,033-sqft Type S1 flat at Pinnacle@Duxton, which sold for $1.028 million, or $995.16 psf in June 2018.

As of today, the current record-holders are two 4-roomers (Type S1) at Pinnacle@Duxton, which sold for $1.228 million in April and May 2022. The one in April was 1,001 sqft ($1,226 psf) while the one in May was 1,012 sq ft (S$1,213 psf).

More importantly, while transaction volumes for million-dollar 4-room flats are lower than 5-rooms, their average psf price has grown by 12.96 per cent in less than five years – faster than 5-room (5.33 per cent) and executive (1.79 per cent).

What’s even more interesting is that there are buyers willing to pay a higher average psf price ($1,130) for a 1,000-plus-sqft 4-room flat compared to a 1,200/1,300-sqft 5-room ($922) or 1,800/2000-sqft executive ($652).

This is considering the million-dollar range among these three room types is currently between $1 million and $1.4 million.

Where are these million-dollar 4-room HDB resale flats located?

Locations of >million-dollar 4-room HDB resale flats
	Tiong Bahru View (SERS replacement site for Bukit Merah View)	Pinnacle @ Duxton	Moh Guan Terrace	City Vue @ Henderson (SERS replacement site for Redhill Close)	SkyTerrace @ Dawson	Natura Loft
	TOP: 2016	TOP: 2011	TOP: 1976	TOP: 2018	TOP: 2016	TOP: 2011	Total by year	Percentage sold by year
2018	2	5					7	8 per cent
2019	1	9					10	11 per cent
2020	4	8	1	1			14	16 per cent
2021	4	38		1	1		44	51 per cent
1 Jan – 15 June 2022		10			1	1	12	14 per cent
Total by project	11	70	1	2	2	1	87
Percentage sold by project	13 per cent	81 per cent	1 per cent	2 per cent	2 per cent	1 per cent

Not surprisingly, 81 per cent of all 4-room flats resold above $1 million so far are from the 50-storey Pinnacle@Duxton. Most of them are mid- to higher-floor apartments (levels between 28 and 45).

There are exceptions, like in October and December 2021, when units between levels 19-21 were sold for $1 million. More recently, in June 2022, a unit between levels 13-15 was sold for a million, marking another record for million-dollar 4-room flats in terms of floor level at the project.

Similarly, the Tiong Bahru View flats – which are SERS replacements for Bukit Merah View at 9A-10B Boon Tiong Road – were on mid- to higher floors – between 16-40. The ones at SkyTerrace@Dawson were between levels 31 and 42.

Another notable trend to monitor is the gradual increase in the number of 4-room flats sold on a year-to-year basis, with more than half of them sold last year.

The age of these flats and how fast were they sold after TOP?

While Moh Guan Terrace seems to be the oldest 4-room HDB flat sold for above S$1m (with 51 years of lease remaining at the time of sale), it is also possibly the record-holder for being on the lowest floor (the block is a walk-up with only four floors). It should also be noted that the 4-room flat is an amalgamation of two 2-room units (giving a total floor space of 1,410 sqft).

The newest 4-room resale flats were from Sers replacement projects, Tiong Bahru View and City Vue @ Henderson, which sold when their leases were at roughly 97 years.

The reason the owners were able to sell before they complete their 5-year Minimum Occupation Periods (MOP) after TOP is because owners impacted by Sers can choose to sell seven years after they select their new flats. These seven years would have included the construction period.

So technically, for these sellers, they only stayed in their new flats for two years at most.

However, on a sidenote, HDB has changed the MOP criteria for Sers recently.

Effective from April 7, 2022, homeowners impacted by Sers can sell their flats only five years after they’ve collected their keys (like any BTOs). Coincidentally (and possibly unfortunate for these residents), the recent Ang Mo Kio Sers was announced on that same day.

This means for the affected 600 Ang Mo Kio households, if they opt to move into their replacement flats, they can only sell their flats five years after living in them – no matter how long the wait is for those new replacement flats to complete.

Record-breaking 4-room HDB resale flats after five-year MOP

Anyway, Sers-aside, the current record holder for a 4-room HDB flat sold above $1 million immediately after its first owner had presumably stayed the full five-year MOP would be SkyTerrace@Dawson – which was a 1,173 sqft premium loft apartment sold for $1.033 million ($880 psf) in June 2021.

In December 2021, a similar 5-room loft apartment (1,313 sqft) there was sold for $1.328 million ($1,011 psf) – a record for the Queenstown neighbourhood.

Right now, speculators wonder when we’ll see the first Model A (1,001 sqft) 4-room HDB flat hit the $1 million mark immediately after serving its five-year MOP.

If we look at HDB flats which TOPed in 2017 and 2018 and already selling around the >$900k range in the open market, we can probably place our predictions:

 

List of 4-room BTO flats which have recently MOPed selling above S$900k in the open market
Project	Location	TOP	Current highest price sold for a 4-room resale flat	Size (sqft)	Price (PSF)	Floor range	Date	Notes
Kebun Baru Court	260B Ang Mo Kio Street 21	2018	S$918,000	990	$927	19-21	May 2022	Model A 4 Room
Toa Payoh Crest	130A Lorong 1 Toa Payoh	2018	$975,000	1001	$974	37-39	May 2022	Model A 4 Room
Toa Payoh Crest	130B Lorong 1 Toa Payoh	2018	$975,000	1001	$974	31-33	May 2022	Model A 4 Room
Clementi Cascadia (SERS replacement)	440C Clementi Avenue 3	2017	$955,000	1012	$943.68	N/A	Nov 2021	3 bedrooms
Teck Ghee Parkview	455B Ang Mo Kio St 44	2018	$900,000	1001	$899	28-30	June 2022	Model A 4 Room
McNair Towers	113B McNair Road	2017	$998,000	1001	$997	34-36	Jan 2022	4-room (Premium Apartment)
Bendemeer Light	10A Bendemeer Road	2017	$950,000	1001	$949.05	N/A	Apr 2022	Model A 4 Room
Telok Blangah Ridgeview	70C Telok Blangah Heights	2017	$900,000	1001	$899	22-24	Dec 2021	Model A 4 Room
Kallang Trivista (SERS replacement)	8B Upper Boon Keng Road	2017	$960,000	1023	$938	28-30	July 2021	4-room (Premium Apartment)
City Vue @ Henderson (SERS replacement)	96B Henderson Road	2018	$1.03m	1001	$1028.97	N/A	Dec 2021	Model A 4 Room

Based on the table above, we can see McNair Towers (premium apartment) inching closer towards its first $1 million 4-room flat after MOP. If you recall, the project had contractor difficulties in 2015 but managed to turn things around.

Separately, Toa Payoh Crest has had two units sold at $975k so far, while Bendemeer Light sold a 4-room for $950k in April.

Even the three Sers replacement projects on the list – City Vue@Henderson, Clementi Cascadia and Kallang Trivista – which have either completed or nearing their 5-year MOP, may likely see some records broken as well. Already, City Vue has sold two 1,001-sqft 4-room flats at or above S$1m under its SERS MOP in October 2020 and December 2021.

So the likelihood of the first 1,001-sqft 4-roomer selling for a million soon after its first 5-year MOP could come from any of them really.

Also, while the list above shows recently MOPed BTO projects which have recorded near-S$1m sales for 4-roomers, there are more BTO projects with 4-room flats MOPing soon that we’ve yet to track. So it remains critical that we continue to monitor these trends.

Why?

As more 4-room flats near or breach the S$1m price ceiling (and their psf prices continue with double-digit growths), there may be a spillover effect (and price demand) on other mid- to lower-tier price ranges among 4-room resale flats (within the same block, or around the same estate or neighbourhood).

If this trend continues, it may only be a matter of time when more 1,000-sqft 4-room HDB resale flats breach the S$1m mark – first, within urban districts, and later, in suburban neighbourhoods like Clementi and Jurong (Singapore’s designated 2nd CBD).

This article was first published in 99.co.