A maisonette flat in Sengkang caught the attention of the Singapore public when it was sold for $1 million dollars.
This would be a sale that would have grabbed my attention in the past if I was still hunting for a flat after I turned 35 and could buy an individual flat as a single. Housing is becoming unaffordable for most, certainly for singles who just emerged from serving as an important pillar for their own family and are planning to secure their own dwelling away from their family.
A large majority of my generation, millennials, move to Sengkang and Punggol as their starter homes. Sengkang is not the most accessible town, and if flats in Sengkang cost closer to $1 million than $400k, where can we find affordable housing?
Fortunately, that $1 million Sengkang flat is unique because it is a maisonette instead of your regular 4-room or 5-room flat. I wonder if the buyer paid that much more because of the furnishings and the unique size and less about it’s location.
The maisonette resides in a place that is not exactly close to the LRT or a direct bus stop. MRT stations (Buangkok and Sengkang MRT) are 10 minutes walk away.
The last $968,000 Sengkang flat in the news is better because you can basically see the Sengkang MRT across the road.
A comparable five-room HDB flat close to that maisonette would cost $620,000, but it is still relatively young at 26 years old. A far cry from $1 million or even $800k.
I think that if a couple earns $150,000 in combined income, the flat will be about four times the annual salary. That is reasonable. (Of course, if you are Huatist and you keep throwing median income, median income, median income at
