First DBSS flats go on resale market, asking price as high as S$780,000

SINGAPORE — The first Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats under the Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) have been put on the resale market, after reaching the minimum occupancy period of five years.

Some flat owners are asking for as much as 60 per cent more than what they paid five years ago.

The Premiere on Tampines Avenue 6 was the first HDB flat project designed, built and sold by a private developer.

Some 90 per cent of the development are five-room flats, which were sold for between S$308,000 and S$450,000. Now, online listings for some of these properties have prices starting at $650,000 and going up to as high as $780,000.

That is S$70,000 to S$200,000 more than other five-room flats in the same area.

“I think many owners are, in a way, testing the market to see whether the market is willing to accept their asking price. Another reason is that perhaps many of them feel that DBSS as a public housing is of higher quality than the normal HDB flats,” said Mr Nicholas Mak, executive director of SLP International Property Consultants.