In October 2021, a five-room DBSS flat in Natura Loft sold for a smashing $1.36 million, setting a new record for the most expensive HDB flat ever sold. In July, another 5-room HDB resale flat in Bishan, in the same project no less, sold for $1.295 million. It probably got most people thinking, “Wah, HDB flats in Bishan now so expensive ah.”
If you’re a young couple looking to purchase a resale flat in the neighbourhood, you might be feeling daunted by such prices. After all, the overall HDB resale flat prices have increased for the seventeenth straight month in a row. It’s safe to say that prices for HDB flats in Bishan are sky-high at the moment.
Still, centrally-located Bishan remains an attractive place to live. The mix of new shopping malls and sleepy neighbourhood shops gives the neighbourhood an old-school charm with all the comforts of modern living. For those who are undeterred and wish to live in Bishan, here’s how much you can expect to pay for an HDB resale flat in the area.
Why You Need to Look at past Resale Prices of Bishan HDB Flats
When paying for a resale HDB flat, you need to know what cash over valuation (COV) is. The need to pay COV arises when a resale flat is sold above its actual valuation by HDB. Subsequently, the buyer has to pay the difference in cash.
Offering a high price means you have to be prepared to pay a significant sum for COV. Ideally, you want to avoid ‘overpaying’ for your home. But paying COV is not all bad. Offering a higher price could speed up the sale process of your new home; if the seller takes up your price, you’re squeezing out other interested parties and ‘chope’-ing the flat you want.
Ultimately, you want to hit the sweet spot between an asker’s selling price and what you’re willing to pay. This way, you’ll better estimate the potential COV you have to cough up and manage your financial situation.
If you need help financing your home, you could always chat with our home loan advisors. They’ll provide you with personalised advice for your financial needs, at zero cost!
Average Selling Price of Bishan HDB flats in the past 3 Years
To start, you want to get a good estimation of your potential home’s valuation. Snoop around and take a look at past transaction prices of properties in the same estate.
For those who already know which part of Bishan they want to live in, simply head over to the PropertyGuru website and search for the block. Details of past transactions will pop up on the ‘Pricing Insights’ section, which you can use to gauge how much to offer.
Alternatively, compare the amount against HDB’s resale statistics for HDB flats in Bishan. Here are the median resale transaction prices for the neighbourhood from Q1 2018 to Q3 2021. Do note that all listed prices are rounded to the nearest hundred dollars.
How Much Should You Pay for an HDB Resale Flat in Bishan
Now we look at the asking prices for Bishan HDB resale flats, as listed on the PropertyGuru website. The asking prices are not the final transacted prices. But, they can give us an idea of how much sellers are asking for their properties and pricing trends.
Again, while there’s no way to know how much COV you’ll have to pay, these figures provide a good estimate for 1) how much you should be prepared to pay and 2) how much you could offer to beat out other interested buyers.
While you can filter flats based on the number of bedrooms on PropertyGuru, it doesn’t tell you what type of HDB flat you’re looking at. Owners could have changed their floor plan by hacking down a wall to expand their living room area or adding a room to serve as their work-from-home office. So to provide more accurate information, what we’ve done is find out the size range for the different types of 3-, 4- and 5-room flats:
- 3-room flat: 635 to 883 sq ft
- 4-room flat: 884 to 1163 sq ft
- 5-room flat: 1164 to 1367 sq ft
- Executive apartments: more than 1367 sq ft
Here are the median asking prices for the different flat types in Bishan as listed on PropertyGuru.
Buying an HDB Resale Flat in Bishan
There is up to a 15% difference between the median asking prices and actual transacted prices. That’s not surprising as buyers often ask for more and sellers negotiate the price down to suit their budget.
But if Q3 2021 (which is when the Hungry Ghost Festival period occurred) was anything to go by, potential buyers can expect stiff competition. We might see more buyers offering sellers a quote close to their asking price.
At this point, the supply of resale HDB flat supply is very low, no thanks to the BTO construction delays. More buyers are willing to offer higher prices and fork out more for COV to secure a place, even if they’ve only seen the flat via virtual viewings. So if you’re thinking of buying a resale HDB flat, do take this into account and set aside money for COV.
If you’re not too picky on location and would prefer a resale flat with a long lease, you could check out these articles:
HDB MOP: 24 BTO Projects You Can Buy That MOP-ed in 2020
Read more here.
Not sure which is the best home loan to take? Chat with PropertyGuru Finance’s home finance advisors to plan a feasible budget and compare mortgage rates.
Happy house hunting!
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Disclaimer: The information is provided for general information only. PropertyGuru Pte Ltd makes no representations or warranties in relation to the information, including but not limited to any representation or warranty as to the fitness for any particular purpose of the information to the fullest extent permitted by law. While every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided in this article is accurate, reliable, and complete as of the time of writing, the information provided in this article should not be relied upon to make any financial, investment, real estate or legal decisions. Additionally, the information should not substitute advice from a trained professional who can take into account your personal facts and circumstances, and we accept no liability if you use the information to form decisions.