A three-room Housing and Development Board (HDB) terraced house located at Block 53 Jalan Ma'mor in Whampoa was sold at a record S$1.568 million in July 2024.

The large unit, completed in 1972 and with only 47 years left on the lease, is the "most expensive HDB terrace house ever sold" and "the priciest three-room HDB flat" in Singapore, according to 99.co.

A resident of the block told Shin Min Daily News that the seller was the first owner of the terraced house who will be living in a regular HDB flat nearby after the transaction went through.

Details of the unit

According to a Shin Min reporter who visited the terraced house on Jul. 30, it is a corner unit that lies adjacent to the road, and its size is the largest amongst the eight units in the block.

99.co also revealed that the terraced house spans 3,950 sq ft across two storeys, which is around five times the size of a typical three-room HDB flat.

As all the terraced houses in the block are said to have the same internal area of 947 sq ft, this means that the unit in question has a very spacious courtyard that spans around 3,000 sq ft, reported Shin Min.

Why so expensive?

99.co chief data officer Luqman Hakim told Shin Min that even though the majority of HDB terraced houses have less than 50 years on their lease, they are still more popular than regular HBD flats.

This is because HDB terraced houses are only available in Whampoa and along Stirling Road in Queenstown, both of which lie close to the city.

Additionally, these units will allow their buyers to experience living in a terraced house while paying "significantly less" than buying a landed property in those two areas.

Huttons senior director of data analytics Sze Teck Lee added that their high transaction prices may also be due to scarcity.  There are a very limited number of HDB terraced houses and even fewer are available on the resale market.

As for the unit in question, its high price point could be due to its spacious courtyard, which could be used to host large parties, said Lee.

Nevertheless, analysts caution that such properties may depreciate as they age, and prospective buyers may not be able to move into a replacement flat if their property is not selected for the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS), reported Shin Min.

Not the first HDB terraced house sold for over S$1 million

According to 99.co, many HDB terraced houses were built by the Singapore Improvement Trust, the predecessor of the Housing and Development Board (HDB), in the 1950s.

HDB took over these units in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and issued their owners with fresh 99-year leases.

A number of units in the terraced cluster in Whampoa, which consists of Jalan Ma'mor, Jalan Bahagia, and Jalan Tenteram, made headlines previously for their high transaction prices.

In June 2021, a 49-year-old terraced house located at Block 39 Jalan Bahagia was sold for S$1.268 million, breaking the record for the most expensive HDB resale unit at the time.

Earlier in July 2024, a 52-year-old terraced house located at Block 59 Jalan Ma'mor was sold for S$1.33 million, once again setting a new record for Singapore's most expensive HDB terraced house.

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Top image via Shin Min Daily News