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A five-room HDB flat in Margaret Drive has been listed for sale for S$1.5 million.

Multiple listings of the same unit have been put up (here, here and here).

With the market still digesting news of S$1 million HDB flats, which are far from the median sale price for resale flats, the S$1.5 million price tag on the listing appears to be an attempt to cut through the clutter as a marketing gimmick.

Or at the very least, a market-testing device.

97-year lease left

According to the listing, the unit at Block 42A Margaret Drive is at the SkyOasis @ Dawson development, and above the 40th floor.

There is a 97-year lease left, with the minimum occupancy period fulfilled on April 6, 2023.

A resident in that block of flats that Mothership spoke to said the sellers of the flat are able to put it up in the market so soon due to the fact that seven years have passed since they booked the flat.

Some of the residents at the SkyOasis @ Dawson were previously from the Tanglin Halt estate that was identified for the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers) in 2014.

Most of the Tanglin Halt residents have moved to two sites in Margaret Drive, namely, SkyResidence @ Dawson and SkyOasis @ Dawson.

During Sers, the residents were at that time offered two- to five-room units in five replacement sites, which are also in Queenstown.

The resident also shared that other residents have discussed the listed price and were sceptical it can fetch above the resale price of S$1.2 million or S$1.3 million.

Photos put up showed the newly renovated 1,194 sqft (110.9 sqm) unit's interior.

Government launching more projects and moderating prices in mature estates

Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said in Parliament on Feb. 7 that MND has been doing its best to launch more projects in the mature estates in the last few years, and to moderate housing prices.

Lee, who spoke at the parliamentary motion on affordable and accessible public housing, however noted that more buyers join the queue due to the attractiveness of the BTO subsidy and the potential capital gains. 

If such flats were priced lower, as some suggest, then the demand for such flats would go up even more, with buyers looking for a bigger windfall, Lee noted.

Mature estate prices are "consciously moderated"

To mitigate this, not only are more flats built in mature estates, but MND has been "consciously moderating" the prices there.

For example, the Prime Location Public Housing (PLH) policy has been launched to offer additional subsidies for public housing in prime, central locations, to ensure it remains affordable.

But the bottom line, Lee noted, is that flats in desirable mature estates cannot be priced at the same level as other flats.

Lee added that MND is considering how to prevent the locational premiums from pricing out all but the most well to-do buyers, while avoiding an excessive windfall gain to those who successfully acquire such a flat in the mature estates.

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