Expats have been lamenting for months that Singapore’s rental market has become almost unaffordable, with flats being rented out for exorbitant amounts.
Unfortunately, the trend doesn’t seem to be easing up.
Just three months after an Ang Mo Kio flat was rented out for S$6,500 a month, a flat in Choa Chu Kang has broken that record by S$100.
Source: Google Maps
This is reportedly a new record for the year 2023.
The flat in question is at Block 641 Choa Chu Kang Street 64, according to records searchable on HDB’s website.
The rental transaction for the executive flat commenced in May 2023 at S$6,600 per month, roughly S$2,000 to S$4,000 higher than similar flats rented out from the housing estate this year.
According to EdgeProp, executive flats in the block have a rough area of 2,314 square feet (sq ft), making its rental about S$2.85 per sq ft (psf).
As Block 641 was completed in 1998, it’s already 25 years old and has 74 years left on its 99-year lease.
The 18-level block has 56 four-room units, 64 five-room units and just eight executive flats. Therefore, the flat that was rented out is quite rare indeed.
Source: Google Maps
There are shopping malls like Yew Tee Square, Yew Tee Point and Limbang Shopping Centre nearby, as well as two FairPrice supermarkets. Three kindergartens and three childcare centres are also in the vicinity.
Additionally, the block is about a four-minute walk from Yew Tee MRT station, according to PropertyGuru.
Analysts interviewed by Shin Min Daily News cited possible reasons for the unit’s high rental price.
Firstly, it’s actually a Premium Maisonette — a double-storey penthouse that’s incredibly rare, which also explains the larger-than-usual floor area.
Such Premium Maisonettes usually have four bedrooms, three toilets and a balcony.
Secondly, if the flat comes with nice furnishings and electronics, it will fetch a higher rental.
Another reason would be the proximity to the MRT.
Lastly, the personal preferences of the tenant might suit the unit, for example having schools nearby or a balcony.
The Choa Chu Kang flat wasn’t the only one that fetched a high rental recently.
An executive unit in Block 110 Tampines Street 11 almost broke the record by being rented out at S$6,550 — just S$50 less.
Source: Google Maps
The rental transaction commenced this month, at a price up to more than S$4,000 higher than units of another block on the same street.
Source: HDB
According to EdgeProp, the unit is the one and only executive flat in the entire Block 110.
The block, completed in 1984, is already 39 years old and thus has 60 years left on its 99-year lease.
It’s about 152 square metres (1,636 sq ft) in size, reported Shin Min, which makes the rental about S$4 psf — higher than the Choa Chu Kang unit.
In February, a flat in Ang Mo Kio was rented out for S$6,500, setting a record for 2023.
That flat beat the record rental price for 2022, set by a Tiong Bahru flat that was rented out for S$6,200 a month in December.
These prices were unthinkable less than a year ago in October 2022, when a flat in Bendemeer was rented out for S$4,600 a month — a sum now paltry in comparison.
How high will the market continue to soar? It seems like the sky’s the limit now.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
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