How much would you pay for a rental flat in Choa Chu Kang? $2,000 a month? $2,500 a month?
If those are your go-tos, well, you gotta pump the numbers up. Because in comparison to this particular rental flat in CCK…
Those are rookie numbers.
Someone Rented an HDB Flat in CCK for $6,600 a Month, Setting a New Record in 2023
Yes, someone rented an HDB flat in CCK for a staggering $6,600 monthly.
To put it into perspective, that’s just $1,900 lesser than Minister Iswaran’s “reduced” pay. And we all know how formidable Ministerial pay is, even when it’s nerfed.
But anyway, the transaction, a new record in the year 2023, was set in May this year. This is interesting, considering how the previous record was set just a few months before that: an Ang Mo Kio flat had been rented out for S$6,500 a month.
I smell another breakthrough in the coming months, but I’ll explore that later.
As for those wondering, the flat in question is situated at Block 641 Choa Chu Kang Street 64.
The details of the flat can be found on HDB’s website.
And yes, other flats in the area don’t even come close. Talk about a pricey rental flat.
Why Is It So Pricey?
Completed in 1998, Block 641 turns 25 this year and has 74 years left on its lease.
Hardly justification for S$6,600 a month. So how did it fetch such an exorbitant amount?
Well, firstly, it’s not just any flat. It’s an executive flat.
Though Block 641 has 18 levels, 56 four-room units and 64 five-room flats, it has just eight executive flats.
Yes, it’s a rare executive flat, and a Premium Maisonette to boot.
For contextual purposes, a Premium Maisonette is essentially a double-storey penthouse with an above-average floor area. Executive flats in Block 641 boast a rough area of 2,314 square feet (sq ft).
To put it into perspective, a 5-room flat in the same block has 1,323 sq ft.
Indeed, a Premium Maisonette comes with four bedrooms, three toilets and a balcony. And when renovated, it can look absolutely stunning.
The following flat, for instance, is an executive flat in the same block.
The renovation process was completed in 2018. It was a resale flat.
Plus, the flat is situated in a very promising vicinity too. Occupants just need to walk for four minutes to reach Yew Tee MRT station, and they are considerably near shopping malls such as Yew Tee Square, Yew Tee Point and Limbang Shopping Center.
Also, there are two Fairprice Supermarkets, three kindergartens, and three childcare centres within proximity.
Interestingly, that record was nearly broken just this month when an executive flat in Tampines was rented out for S$6,550/month.
Just $60 more, and we would have had a new record.
It’s certainly a testament to how high rental prices are getting nowadays though. Before the S$6,500 deal that was set in February, the highest rental deal was S$6,200 for a four-room flat in Tiong Bahru.
A S$400 increase within a span of less than a year.
Yet, perhaps it’s not that much of a surprising thing either. Considering several factors, including constant demand, rising bank interest rates and fewer five-year minimum occupancy period flats, it’s only rational that rental prices would increase.
Meanwhile, flat sales are breaking records too. A 5-room HDB flat in Bishan was sold for a whopping $1.43 million just a while ago.