On Wednesday (8 May), the Housing & Development Board (HDB), the Ministry of National Development (MND), and the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) issued a press release announcing they had flagged jumbo flat listings at Sengkang and Toa Payoh, The Straits Times (ST) reports.
The listing at Sengkang was for two adjacent five-room flats which the ad promoted as a jumbo flat. The second was for a five-room unit with an “unrealistic asking price.”
CEA said they were aware of the listings and are looking into the matter.
ST states that the authorities described the listing for the Sengkang unit as “misleading” as there were no such apartments in the block.
The listing on PropertyGuru was for a 2,400 sq ft jumbo flat in Block 314C Anchorvale Link containing six bedrooms and four bathrooms.
Source: Google Maps
“The jumbo flat listed is actually two adjacent five-room flats, which are not eligible to be converted into and sold as a single unit,” the authorities said.
CEA brought up the misleading advertisement to the agent’s property agency. Following that, the listing was taken down.
“CEA is investigating the matter,” the authorities said. They added that the agency would take firm action if there were any breaches established.
In addition, authorities noted that five-room flats in the area went for around S$580,000 during the past six months. The S$2 million asking price thus exceeded the total value of two five-room flats by over S$800,000.
The second listing that the authorities flagged was for a five-room Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flat at The Peak@Toa Payoh.
Source: Google Maps
Also going for S$2 million, it did not have an intent to sell registered with HDB.
This, the authorities said, meant that the seller could not give buyers an option to purchase yet.
Such sellers must register their intent to sell before putting up their unit on the market.
Authorities went on to note that the listing price was half a million above the highest transacted price in the area. Many property experts, they said, had described it as an “unrealistic asking price.”
For the selling price of S$2 million, authorities said that both flats would come with significant cash over valuation (COV).
This is the amount a buyer pays in cash when a resale flat exchanges hands for an amount over its HDB valuation.
“While the HDB resale market transacts on a ‘willing buyer-willing seller’ basis, the Government will not condone behaviour, whether by agents or sellers, that seek to disrupt the market or fan consumer sentiment,” the authorities clarified.
They then called for buyers to carefully plan their budget and avoid overstretching their finances by being prudent.
“We should not expect housing prices to increase indefinitely amid global economic uncertainty and geopolitical instability,” they said.
The authorities also noted that property agencies and agents have to act under the code of conduct for estate agents.
As such, they have a duty to uphold the integrity and professionalism of the real estate industry. They also have to act responsibly during their work.
HDB, MND, and CEA said that the latter will look into the information that property agents list to market HDB flats. This is to protect public interests and allow buyers to make informed decisions.
They also mentioned that Singaporeans can choose from a vast variety of affordable units which includes Build-To-Order (BTO) flats that contain significant market discounts.
Majority of four and five-room BTO flats offered in 2023 were below S$600,000 before grants. These units did not fall under the prime location public housing model.
70% of five-room and smaller resale flats were sold for prices below $600,000 before grants.
Also read: 5-room Toa Payoh flat listed for S$2M sparks debate online
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps and Google Maps.
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