When news broke about an HDB loft unit in Punggol was sold for $1.19M back in September, it set the property market abuzz with much excitement. After all, it was the first time ever that a flat was sold for over a million dollars in a non-mature estate such as Punggol.
Well, that record has just been broken. Another similar loft unit at Punggol has just been sold for an eye-watering $1.22M, making it the most expensive flat ever sold in Punggol. Here’s everything you need to know about the unit in question.
New front-runner for most expensive Punggol flat
Image adapted from: HDB
In a nutshell, the unit that was sold for a record-breaking $1.22M is a 149sqm (1,603sqft) 5-room loft unit, located somewhere on the 16th to 18th floor. It’s also located at Blk 268B Punggol Field; if the address seems familiar, that’s because it belongs to the Punggol Sapphire development. Yes, the very same one that was sold last September for $1.19M.
With a remaining lease of about 89 years, we’d safely hazard a guess that this is the first time the flat is exchanging hands, and so would have been in a reasonably good condition to warrant such a high price.
Before we dive into the specifics of the $1.22M loft unit that was sold, let’s quickly recap on some important details about Punggol Sapphire, the development that it belongs to.
Image credit: Land
Launched in 2008, Punggol Sapphire is a 760-unit development under the now-defunct Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS). Notably, it’s only one of two developments in the entire estate of Punggol to have 5-room loft units, with 23 of such 5-room loft units across blocks 267A to 267C, 268A to 268D, 269A to 269C, and 270A to 270C.
The other development is Treelodge@Punggol, with 14 loft units across blocks 305A to 305C Punggol Road, 305D Punggol Drive, 306A to 306C Punggol Place.
Image adapted from: Google Maps
It’s also quite conveniently located within the Punggol estate. For instance, it only takes a 10-minute bus ride to get to the main Punggol Central area, where there’s both an MRT and LRT station to connect you to the rest of Singapore.
There’s also Waterway Point, which is a huge shopping mall with everything from supermarkets and banks to eateries and retail establishments.
Unit attracted 10 interested parties
According to reports, this Blk 268B loft unit was initially listed at $1.25M in August last year. Since then, it attracted 10 interested buyers, who put in offers of between $1.1M to $1.24M, though the details of the parties are not disclosed due to privacy reasons.
Taking into account that the unit was listed in August 2022, there are a few notable observations that make this sale all the more interesting.
For one, back in August 2022, Punggol had not clocked its first ever million-dollar sale yet, with various loft sales coming in just shy of the million-dollar mark. Of course, we now know that this record was first broken in mid-Sep with a loft unit sold for $1.19M, but this would mean that the writing was on the wall for some time already, and it was only a matter of time before this threshold would be breached.
Second, there were already some prevailing market conditions that would have perhaps spurred buyers to put in such high offers, in a bid to secure the flat. For instance, property cooling measures which were primarily aimed at the resale market were introduced in Sep 2022.
In addition, banks were constantly increasing home loan interest rates, on the back of an uncertain macroeconomic outlook due to climbing inflation.
Image adapted from: Amos Lim ERA YouTube
As such, potential homebuyers might have been motivated to quickly secure a sale before more cooling measures are introduced to lock in a particular interest rate before further hikes, or to set their money into a property before inflation further erodes the value of the money they have on hand. This might have been some of the reasons why such high offers were placed for this Blk 268B loft unit.
Scarcity of loft units plus good value reasons for high price
That said, the unit itself also presents a very compelling case for commanding such a high price.
One of the primary reasons is because of the scarcity of such loft units. As mentioned earlier, there are only a total of 37 5-room loft units in the whole of Punggol, which means coming across one being listed for sale can be quite rare. This short supply would naturally lead to higher prices over time.
Plus, being in Punggol would mean that such loft units tend to be more affordable than the likes of similar loft units in other mature estates such as Queenstown. And so, interested buyers who want the luxury of owning such premium flats would be okay with forking out just that little bit more for a unit, as compared to more expensive lofts in other estates which may veer into the uncomfortable price territory.
Image adapted from: Amos Lim ERA YouTube
Loft units are also very good value for money themselves. As you may know, they are essentially 2-storey HDB flats, and are larger than your normal flats with the same number of rooms.
Space is something most homeowners covet, and so therein lies the value of loft units in the market. Having a high ceiling – which is a feature that loft units offer – might be something that some buyers are also attracted to, and certainly provides the potential for some unique design ideas for the home.
In the case of our $1.22M loft unit, it was also marketed as having unparalleled views of the Punggol estate, and even so far as having an unblocked view of the CBD. Being on a high floor would also mean having a strong breeze entering the flat, cooling the home and providing good ventilation for its occupants.
Expect more of such million-dollar loft units in Punggol to be sold eventually
If you’re interested in getting a loft unit in Punggol, then you’re in luck.
As of time of writing, there are 2 5-room loft units being listed online, one at Blk 279A and the other at Blk 270C, with both belonging to Punggol Sapphire and listed at $1.25M and $1.2M, respectively. Make no mistake: these are hefty prices, but it’s also not very common to see loft units for sale, especially since there are only 37 of these 5-room lofts in Punggol.
Now that two Punggol loft units have been sold for over $1M, it’s perhaps safe to say that they’ve paved the way for more of such sales to come in the following months. While there may be a small dip in HDB resale prices on the horizon, it’s unlikely that we’ll see a 5-room loft in Punggol being sold for anything less than a million.
Read more about loft unit sales here:
- Punggol Sapphire Loft Sells For Record-Breaking $1.19M, Two More Of The Same Units On Sale For Above $1.2M
- 6 Loft HDB Flats On The Market From As Low As $595K To Snap Up As An Appreciating Asset
- What Is A Loft HDB Unit? Why They Are So Coveted In Singapore & Where To Find Them
Cover image adapted from: Amos Lim ERA YouTube, Google Maps
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