These Singaporeans won the housing lottery. Did money buy happiness?
- A group of Singaporeans in their 60s and 70s became millionaires overnight when their condos were bought in collective sales by land-hungry developers
- But it’s not all smooth-sailing, as health woes and adjustment issues persist
Allen Chung, 73, thumbs a rectangular plastic piece bearing the unit number of his old home. He pierces the nostalgia-filled moment with an abrupt admission, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“We actually took this without permission,” he said. His 71-year-old wife Ann, a retired teacher, smiles sheepishly next to him.
For 30 years, the unit number adorned the entrance of their 1,600 sq ft family home in Shunfu Ville. The condominium, located in a central suburban neighbourhood, was sold collectively in 2016 to Chinese developer Qingjian Realty, netting the Chungs a cool S$1.78 million (US$1.3 million) – 50 per cent more than what they would have received had they sold their individual unit on the resale market, and almost eight times what they paid for it in 1986.
In en bloc deals such as this, owners of more than 80 per cent of the share value of the project must agree to a sale before the entire development is placed on the market to be sold to developers or the government to redevelop the land.
The couple is among a group of lucky Singaporean seniors who have enjoyed lavish profits as their ageing homes were sold in collective deals in the past decade.
Most of these owners bought their units for a relative pittance in the 1970s and 1980s, and saw their values multiply up to tenfold as developers swooped in to gather landbanks in the land-scarce island nation, with some deals crossing the billion-dollar mark.
However, while delighted with the cash in hand, such elderly folk have also felt the emotional and logistical pain of leaving their homes. This is seen in the many photos the Chungs took of moving-out day – including one showing a visibly teary Ann.
