The Hougang Avenue 7 HUDC estate will be privatised as of today.
In a statement, HDB said homeowners in the estate now own their respective units, as well as the common property.
Each household will have to pay about $30,000 when the privatisation process is completed, to cover the cost of the common property and other processing fees.
Sherry Tang, Senior Sales Director at DTZ Property Network explained the owners are now subsidiary proprietors and will have an undivided share in the land. “Thus, the home owners will then be able to proceed with en bloc should there be any interest,” she said.
16 out of the 18 HUDC estates have been privatised.
Although the price of the HUDC units should increase upon privatisation, the sluggish property market will not bring about a significant increase in the price. “Buyers are likely to purchase at similar prices of the last transacted price. The sellers would most likely want to sell at the price that is $30,000 above the last transacted price to factor in the privatisation fees,” Tang said.
However, a lot of owners of HUDC units are holding on to their units now as they are likely to wait for the possibility of an en bloc.
Introduced in the 1970s, HUDC flats were built for middle-income families who could afford larger flats. But in 1987, HDB stopped building them after private property prices declined and demand for HUDC units fell.
Tang said, “Most of the owners of HUDC who bought in the earlier days are retirees and they are living comfortably and thus there is no pertinent need to sell. Should they sell, it is also hard for them to find a similar replacement unit.”
There is continued interest in HUDC due to the limited supply. “HUDC are generally favoured by families as they are large, usually around 1,700 sq ft and are very spacious. In terms of price, it is still below $1,000 psf. Thus, for buyers who are seeking out huge spacious unit for their family, HUDC will be one of the choices,” Tang explained.
PropertyGuru’s listings show that units in the Hougang Avenue 7 estate are listed from $1.05 million onwards.
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
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