5-room resale HDB flat at Margaret Drive sells for record S$1.73 million

A five-room Housing and Development Board (HDB) resale flat along Margaret Drive was sold for S$1.73 million on Jun. 26, notching a new record.

The 1,195 sq ft at Skyoasis @ Dawson unit was sold for S$1,444 per sq ft.

Details of the sale were announced in a Jul. 22 press release by ERA Realty and reported by EdgeProp.

Details of transaction

The initial asking price was S$1.838 million.

Two serious buyers made bids for it before the deal was closed at a price of S$1,725,888.

The flat is a corner unit on the 45th floor, it was reported, and the sellers are Singaporean.

The unit had only been listed for sale for just under a month before it was sold.

The buyers, it was revealed, are a Singaporean family with young children.

The sale was facilitated by Faith Wong, senior marketing director at ERA Realty.

“For a private property in this area of this size and age, you would typically expect to pay around S$3 million,” she said.

More than 95-year lease remaining

The 99-year leasehold unit was 3.5 years old.

Given that the property’s status is a replacement flat under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS), owners are allowed to sell their units after seven years from registration, or five years from the date of key collection, whichever is earlier, EdgeProp highlighted, which explained why the unit changed hands so early into its lease.

New Build-to-Order (BTO) units require a mandatory occupancy period of five years.

About the estate

Skyoasis @ Dawson is a 1,192-unit HDB estate in District 3.

It was completed in 2021.

It comprises six residential blocks ranging from 26- to 45-storeys in height and houses two- to five-room flats.

The project is within walking distance of Queenstown MRT on the East-West line.

Previous record

The previous record was set in June 2024 when a 1,236 sq ft, five-room unit at City Vue @ Henderson was transacted at S$1.588 million (S$1,285 psf).

In April 2024, a five-room flat at Tiong Bahru View, at Block 9B Boon Tiong Road, was transacted for S$1.588 million (S$1,317 psf).

Million dollar flats a minority

Minister for National Development Desmond Lee noted in September 2023 that million dollar flats made up less than 1 per cent of the HDB resale transactions registered from July 2015 to June 2023.

Among these buyers, the median age was 40 years old.

About 94 per cent of the buyers were Singapore citizens, while about 6 per cent were permanent residents.

Top photo via Google Maps