'It's worth the price': 10 enquiries received for $2m Toa Payoh flat listing, says agent

The $2 million price tag to this flat might be steep, but it seems that it is not enough to put off interested buyers.

The five-room Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) unit at block 138B Lorong 1A Toa Payoh has attracted several queries since it was listed on PropertyGuru on April 16.

The high asking price has also baffled netizens, with one of them suggesting that it is "better to buy a condo". 

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Joyce Lim from ERA Singapore said that the current home owner is in his forties, and he set the $2 million asking price after evaluating the recent sales transactions of other flats in the vicinity.

HDB records show there were about 20 flats on Lorong 1A Toa Payoh that changed hands for more than a million-dollars in the past year.

One of them, a five-room DBSS flat in Block 139A, was sold for a record $1.56 million in January. It remains the most expensive resale flat in Singapore.

"It's worth the price," Lim said, adding that the unit is located on the high floor with a three-metre-high ceiling and comes with two additional small rooms.

There have been more than 10 enquires for the flat from interested parties so far, according to Lim.

Two groups of potential buyers have also viewed the flat - a retired couple in their 80s and a young couple in their 20s.

But Lim said that they have declined to make an offer due to personal reasons.

While the asking price of this flat may be steep, it will not deter some Singaporeans, real estate consultant Damien Tan from PropNex told AsiaOne previously. 

Noting that the asking price is just the starting point and not the final transaction value, Tan said that prices in a mature estate such as Toa Payoh tends to be high.

"Many of them (buyers) are also willing to pay, rather than wait for the 10-year Minimum Occupancy Period if they were to buy flats under the Prime Location Public Housing model."

DBSS projects - a total of 13 in Singapore - are built by private developers, with each development characterised by unique external features, although owners are subjected to the same regulations as HDB owners.

These units are sought-after due to their rarity and larger living spaces. The DBSS was later suspended in 2011.

ALSO READ: HDB resale prices up for 6th straight month - are million-dollar flats to blame? Analysts weigh in

chingshijie@asiaone.com