Property Guru Singaporeans who bought HDB flats in 2007 could get double the price if they put their units on the resale market today. This opportunity is a result of good timing and a buoyant resale market which may only happen again after a long time, according to experts.
This year, flat owners who were awarded the keys to their homes in 2007 will complete the Minimum Occupancy Period (MOP) of five years.
"Back then, HDB prices were in the doldrums because of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and the Asian financial crisis," said Mohamed Ismail, Chief Executive of PropNex. He added that the windfall could be attributed to the recent surge in resale flat prices.
Ismail noted that the HDB resale price index in Q1 2012 was 191.6 compared to 104.9 in Q1 2007.
Meanwhile, the housing board revealed that flats which have satisfied the MOP this year include those in the mature estates of Toa Payoh, Bukit Merah and Queenstown as well as in the non-mature estates of Punggol and Sengkang.
However, not all flats are eligible to be put on the resale market this year given that the MOP only starts when keys are issued.
Johnny Wan, one such flat owner who bought a four-room unit in Queenstown for S$330,000, now gets fliers from real estate agents who have committed no less than S$750,000 for his flat.
"My friends called me crazy and said I could have landed myself a better deal elsewhere, maybe an executive condominium," he recounted when he bought the flat.
"But it's all about location to me, and I'm the one who's sitting on a tidy profit now," he said, adding that he might sell his unit if the right offer comes along.
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