Sky-high prices: the million-dollar question facing Singapore’s public housing

Despite the coronavirus and a bumper recession, a record number of public housing flats were resold by their owners for more than S$1 million in 2020

That’s great for those who buy heavily subsidised public units then sell for a personal profit, but bodes ill for a system aspiring to affordable housing for all

Reading Time:5 minutes

Public housing units by the Housing and Development Board, left, and private residential buildings under construction in Singapore. Photo: Roy Issa

Published: 8:00am, 18 Jan 2021Updated: 8:26am, 18 Jan 2021

In just a decade, Mark Wang made a cool S$700,000 (US$530,000) profit when he sold his public housing flat for S$1.07 million last September, having bought the heavily subsidised unit from the government through a ballot. He intends to partially fund the purchase of two condominiums with the profit.

“Yes, it’s a kind of lottery effect and I feel truly blessed,” said the associate group director, 45, from real estate agency PropNex Realty, who specialises in private homes in the central region. “But I did a lot of research then, and knew it was too good to be missed. I was even teased by friends that it was a silly buy then because no one would buy a new flat at that price.”

Wang’s 43rd floor, 1,000 sq ft balcony unit with sprawling views of the city and sea was one of 82 Housing and Development Board (HDB) apartments that breached the million-dollar mark in 2020. The figure eclipsed the 64 in 2019 and the record of 71 in 2018.

Mark Wang’s home at Pinnacle@Duxton. Photo: Mark Wang

Many of these homes located on the city fringes were bought directly from the government at subsidised prices far lower than market value, and with 99-year leases. They have then been sold in the open market for gains of 60 or 70 per cent or more.

Among the highest prices fetched was a S$1.258 million sale at the Pinnacle@Duxton, a landmark project in the city’s heart and where Wang’s flat was also located. The massive 50-storey, seven-tower development is closely associated with the country’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, as a key rejuvenation element of the Tanjong Pagar constituency where he was representative for six decades.