HDB data shows Hougang flats fetch lower prices than Aljunied units: Mah
By Fiona Chan
HOUSING Board resale flats in the Hougang single-seat ward have fetched lower prices than those in Aljunied GRC on average, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday.
He released figures aimed at refuting Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang's claim that flats in his former ward were valued no less than similar resale flats in wards held by the ruling People's Action Party (PAP).
The figures showed that over the last 12 months, resale flats in the Hougang ward were sold for an average of 3 to 16 per cent less than those in Aljunied, even though the units had similar attributes and the HDB blocks were located within walking distance from one another.
Mr Mah's data, taken from HDB's website, showed that five-room flats in Aljunied fetched 15 per cent more than those in Hougang over the past 12 months.
Four-room flats in Aljunied had a 16 per cent premium over those in Hougang, while three-room flats were sold for 3 per cent more.
The units in the calculations are located in Hougang Avenue 6, 8 and 10 for those in Aljunied GRC, and in Hougang Avenue 5 and 7 for those in Hougang SMC. The blocks are on either side of Upper Serangoon Road and were completed between 1980 and 1985.
'This is based on a fairly large number of transactions, not just one or two flats,' Mr Mah said in a statement.
The war of words over flat prices was triggered when Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said last Friday that flats in Hougang are lower in value than those in PAP wards.
Then, at a rally in Moulmein-Kallang GRC on Monday, Mr Low mentioned two examples where buyers paid more for Hougang flats than for comparable ones in PAP wards.
One was of a five-room Hougang flat on the fourth storey without a lift landing, which fetched $530,000 this year. He compared this to a similar flat on a high floor with a lift landing in a PAP-held ward - which he did not name - that was sold for $450,000.
The other was a five-room flat in Hougang, which was sold for $560,000 some time in the past year. A similar flat in Hougang town that fell within the PAP-held Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC fetched $490,000, Mr Low said.
But Mr Mah responded to this example yesterday by noting: 'The constituency next to Hougang SMC is actually Aljunied GRC, and not Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.'
Because location is often the biggest determinant of a property's value, the most appropriate comparisons are between properties sited as near to each other as possible.
By Fiona Chan
HOUSING Board resale flats in the Hougang single-seat ward have fetched lower prices than those in Aljunied GRC on average, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday.
He released figures aimed at refuting Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang's claim that flats in his former ward were valued no less than similar resale flats in wards held by the ruling People's Action Party (PAP).
The figures showed that over the last 12 months, resale flats in the Hougang ward were sold for an average of 3 to 16 per cent less than those in Aljunied, even though the units had similar attributes and the HDB blocks were located within walking distance from one another.
Mr Mah's data, taken from HDB's website, showed that five-room flats in Aljunied fetched 15 per cent more than those in Hougang over the past 12 months.
Four-room flats in Aljunied had a 16 per cent premium over those in Hougang, while three-room flats were sold for 3 per cent more.
The units in the calculations are located in Hougang Avenue 6, 8 and 10 for those in Aljunied GRC, and in Hougang Avenue 5 and 7 for those in Hougang SMC. The blocks are on either side of Upper Serangoon Road and were completed between 1980 and 1985.
'This is based on a fairly large number of transactions, not just one or two flats,' Mr Mah said in a statement.
The war of words over flat prices was triggered when Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said last Friday that flats in Hougang are lower in value than those in PAP wards.
Then, at a rally in Moulmein-Kallang GRC on Monday, Mr Low mentioned two examples where buyers paid more for Hougang flats than for comparable ones in PAP wards.
One was of a five-room Hougang flat on the fourth storey without a lift landing, which fetched $530,000 this year. He compared this to a similar flat on a high floor with a lift landing in a PAP-held ward - which he did not name - that was sold for $450,000.
The other was a five-room flat in Hougang, which was sold for $560,000 some time in the past year. A similar flat in Hougang town that fell within the PAP-held Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC fetched $490,000, Mr Low said.
But Mr Mah responded to this example yesterday by noting: 'The constituency next to Hougang SMC is actually Aljunied GRC, and not Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.'
Because location is often the biggest determinant of a property's value, the most appropriate comparisons are between properties sited as near to each other as possible.
