Demand for resale flats since the end of the Circuit Breaker has pushed prices and sales to new highs. HDB resale prices have climbed for the 26th straight month in a row in August 2022, and the number of million-dollar HDB flats continues to rise.
2021 saw a record 259 million-dollar HDB resale flats transactions. And as of 8 September 2022, we’ve already seen 245 million-dollar HDB flat transactions this year.
While these are mostly exclusive in mature estates, we’re seeing the emergence of million-dollar flats in non-mature estates such as Woodlands, Yishun, and Pasir Ris. So with resale prices on the uptrend, will we see more million-dollar flats in non-mature estates?
Watch Our Video on Whether Singaporeans Would Consider Buying an HDB Million-Dollar Flat
Where Are Million-Dollar HDB Flats Located?
At the current rate of million-dollar HDB flat transactions, we’re on track to see over 300 such flats sold by the year’s end. According to official data from data.gov.sg (as of 8 September 2022):
| HDB estate | No. of million-dollar HDB flats |
| Ang Mo Kio | 20 |
| Bishan | 36 |
| Bukit Batok | 1 |
| Bukit Merah | 30 |
| Bukit Timah | 5 |
| Central Area | 35 |
| Clementi | 15 |
| Geylang | 2 |
| Hougang | 1 |
| Kallang/Whampoa | 18 |
| Marine Parade | 2 |
| Pasir Ris | 1 |
| Queenstown | 29 |
| Serangoon | 10 |
| Toa Payoh | 33 |
| Woodlands | 4 |
| Yishun | 3 |
Million-dollar HDB flats have so far happened exclusively in the 17 estates above. New joiners to the list include Bukit Batok, Marine Parade, Pasir Ris, Woodlands, and Yishun. With resale flat prices rising across the island, where can we expect to see more million-dollar flats?
Breakdown of Number of HDB Flats Trending Towards $1 Million by Flat Type
To determine this, we took a look at official data from data.gov.org and filtered the list of flats that transacted between $850,000 to below $1 million so far this year. Of the 912 flats that fit this criterion, here is the breakdown:
| Flat type | Number of HDB flats transacted from 1 Jan 2022 to 8 Sept 2022 for between $850,000 to $1,000,000 |
| 3-room | 3 |
| 4-room | 337 |
| 5-room | 308 |
| Executive apartment | 262 |
| 3Gen | 2 |
The three 3-room HDB flats that made the list were located in the Kallang/Whampoa estate and are terrace houses, which may explain their higher transaction prices. But what’s interesting is we’re seeing a significant number of 4-room HDB flats inching closer to the million-dollar mark.
The flats that made the list share these common characteristics:
- They are close to current or upcoming amenities such as schools, MRT stations, malls, eateries
- The flats are mostly bigger flats or rare flat types that are no longer in production such as executive maisonette, DBSS, executive apartment, and multi-generation (jumbo) flat
- Aside from a few 5-room and DBSS flats, most are older flats ranging from 20 to 53 years old
Breakdown of Number of HDB Flats Trending Towards $1 Million by HDB Estates
As mentioned, HDB resale flat prices have really increased drastically over the course of the pandemic. The HDB Resale Price Index has climbed 32.0 points from 131.9 points in Q2 2020 to 163.9 points in Q2 2022. That’s a 24.3% increase in overall HDB resale flat prices since the start of the pandemic!
Hence, it’s no surprise that almost all HDB estates in Singapore have flats which transacted in the $850,000 to just under $1,000,000 range:
| HDB estate | Number of HDB flats transacted from 1 Jan 2022 to 8 Sept 2022 for between $850,000 to $1,000,000 |
| Ang Mo Kio | 61 |
| Bedok | 36 |
| Bishan | 49 |
| Bukit Batok | 26 |
| Bukit Merah | 105 |
| Bukit Panjang | 5 |
| Bukit Timah | 3 |
| Central Area | 15 |
| Choa Chu Kang | 2 |
| Clementi | 56 |
| Geylang | 29 |
| Hougang | 33 |
| Jurong East | 11 |
| Kallang/Whampoa | 129 |
| Marine Parade | 15 |
| Pasir Ris | 19 |
| Punggol | 1 |
| Queenstown | 113 |
| Sengkang | 5 |
| Serangoon | 22 |
| Tampines | 65 |
| Toa Payoh | 78 |
| Woodlands | 26 |
| Yishun | 8 |
Which HDB Estates Have Flats That Are Trending Towards $1 Million?
Barring the flats that already are in the million-dollar HDB flat club, it seems we can be expecting Tampines, Serangoon, Jurong East, and Bedok to see million-dollar HDB flats soon. In fact, Tampines just sold its first million-dollar flat, with an executive maisonette built in 1995 being sold for $1,013,113.
We’ve chosen these estates as they have a significant volume of resale flats that fit the characteristics of current million-dollar HDB homes. Bar Jurong East, the rest of the HDB towns are mature estates; but all are filled with a chockful of amenities.
Based on the volume of flats transacting at the almost million-dollar mark, we can expect more of such transactions from Bukit Batok, Geylang, Hougang, and Woodlands.
While it’s not possible to exactly predict where the next million-dollar HDB estate will be, what we know is these transactions are still not considered the norm and make up less than 1.5% of overall HDB flat transactions. And in the National Day Rally 2022, PM Lee Hsien Loong also reaffirmed the commitment to ensure housing remains affordable for Singaporeans.
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