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No longer do Singaporeans bat an eyelid at HDB flats that sell for more than $1 million. Instead, we are in the era where only HDB flats that sell more than $1.5 million capture our attention. The first $1.5 million HDB flat was sold in Tiong Bahru in May 2023 – a 4-room jumbo flat at 50 Moh Guan Terrace in Bukit Merah. Since then, there have been a slew of HDB flats transacting for $1.5 million or more. To-date, the most expensive HDB flats in Singapore are a pair of 5-room units located in Tiong Bahru – each commanding a $1.588 in the resale market. Keeping a closer tab on HDB flats that sell for $1.5 million and above today, we have listed approximately 13 HDB resale flats that have transacted for $1.5 million and above. We look at each of these HDB flats to try to determine why they may have commanded the title of “most expensive public housing flats” in Singapore. The first HDB flat to hit the $1.5 million mark was a 4-room Jumbo flat in Bukit Merah that was sold in 2013. Based on what we can see of the flat details, this resale HDB flat remains the only Jumbo flat, as well as the largest HDB flat and oldest HDB flat (completed in 1973), to be sold at $1.5 million and above. Source: Google Maps This low-rise 4-storey HDB block is a walking distance to the Tiong Bahru MRT station, as well as several schools and supermarkets. – Date: June 2023 – Sale Price: $1.5 million – Flat Type: 4-Room (Jumbo Flat) – Area: 176 sqm – Remaining Lease: 49 years (Lease commenced in 1973)   Built in 2012, The Peak @ Toa Payoh is a DBSS that became the first HDB flat that breached $1.5 million in 2024 – after a brief hiatus of around 6 months where no such flats were transacted. Based on the transactions that we can see, four of the 13 HDB flats that have sold above $1.5 million is a unit at The Peak @ Toa Payoh. Source: Google Maps Rising 40-42 storeys, the DBSS development is within walking distance to three MRT stations: Braddell MRT, Toa Payoh MRT and Caldecott MRT. – Date: January 2024 – Sale Price: $1.569 million – Flat Type: 5-Room (DBSS) – Area: 117 sqm – Remaining Lease: 87 years (Lease commenced in 2012)   The second of the four unit from The Peak @ Toa Payoh that sold at more than $1.5 million came in the same month – January 2024. While this unit was slightly lower than the previous unit, it was also located on a lower floor level. This may align with common expectations that a higher-level unit may command a higher price. – Date: January 2024 – Sale Price: $1.54 million – Flat Type: 5-Room (DBSS) – Area: 117 – Remaining Lease: 87 years (Lease commenced in 2012)   Perhaps the most iconic HDB development also makes this list of most expensive public housing flats in Singapore. Located in the heart of the CBD – in Tanjong Pagar – Pinnacle@Duxton towers the landscape with 7 blocks, each rising to 50 storeys. Uniquely, the blocks are also interconnected via skybridges at both the 26th and 50th storeys. Source: Google Maps – Date: May 2024 – Sale Price: $1.515 million – Flat Type: 5-Room – Area: 106 sqm – Remaining Lease: 86 years (Lease commenced in 2011)   Completed in 2011, Natura Loft is another DBSS project that has three units among the 13 HDB flats in Singapore to have sold for $1.5 million or more. It’s not surprising that an HDB flat in Bishan sold for more than $1.5 million in May 2024. Bishan houses several sought-after condominium projects, as well as an enclave of landed properties. Source: Google Maps Located in the heart of Bishan, Natura Loft is within walking distance of Bishan MRT, as well as 1km from popular primary and secondary school Catholic High School. – Date: May 2024 – Sale Price: $1.5 million – Flat Type: 5-Room – Area: 120 sqm – Remaining Lease: 86 years (Lease commenced in 2011)   With a lease commencing in 1992, this Executive Maisonette in Bishan is the 2nd oldest HDB flat sold for $1.5 million or more. One of the unique features of this unit is that it is the only Maisonette on the list, and just marginally smaller than the Jumbo flat listed above. It is also directly across the road from the Natura Loft DBSS project – which features four units on this list. Source: Google Maps This means there that four out of the 13 units that have sold for $1.5 million or more are in Bishan. – Date: May 2024 – Sale Price: $1.5 million – Flat Type: Executive Maisonette – Area: 172 sqm – Remaining Lease: 67 years (Lease commenced in 1992) To-date, the most expensive HDB flat sold in Singapore is a 5-Room flat in Tiong Bahru that went for $1.588 million in June 2024. Unsurprisingly, this unit is another towering project with 48 floors. The development is also stacked with amenities that include being within walking distance to Redhill MRT and Tiong Bahru MRT, as well as close proximity to multiple schools and the hip cafes and restaurants in the vicinity. Source: Google Maps – Date: June 2024 – Sale Price: $1.588 million – Flat Type: 5-Room – Area: 113 – Remaining Lease: 94 years (Lease commenced in 2019)   Sharing the title as the most expensive is another 5-Room unit in Tiong Bahru that also went for $1.588 million in June 2024. A stone’s throw away from the unit above, this development shares many of the attractive features that command the same hefty price tag. Source: Google Maps – Date: June 2024 – Sale Price: $1.588 million – Flat Type: 5-Room – Area: 112 – Remaining Lease: 91 years (Lease commenced in 2012)   The third unit at The Peak @ Toa Payoh to sell for more than $1.5 million came in June 2024. Even though this unit was sold nearly six months after the previous unit at the same DBSS development, it went for the same price. This is interesting as the unit was also the exact same size and within the same floors. – Date: June 2024 – Sale Price: $1.54 million – Flat Type: 5-Room (DBSS) – Area: 117 – Remaining Lease: 87 years (Lease commenced in 2012)   Natura Loft is another magnet development for HDB units that sell for $1.5 million or more – with this being the 2nd of three units. Bishan itself is a hotbed for the priciest HDB flats with another Maisonette, located directly across the road from Natura Loft, also selling for $1.5 million or more. – Date: June 2024 – Sale Price: $1.538 million – Flat Type: 5-Room – Area: 120 sqm – Remaining Lease: 86 years (Lease commenced in 2011) Both the oldest (#1) and the youngest (this and #7) HDB flats to sell for $1.5 million or more come from the Tiong Bahru estate. This 5-Room unit is the same size and from the same development as the unit described in #7. – Date: June 2024 – Sale Price: $1.5 million – Flat Type: 5-Room – Area: 113 – Remaining Lease: 94 years (Lease commenced in 2019)   While the third and fourth units at The Peak @ Toa Payoh to go for more than $1.5 million came in June 2024, this unit was slightly cheaper. However, if we look closer into the project details, we can see that this 5-Room was slightly smaller than the previous three units sold within this development. Despite being only 3 sqm smaller, and situated close to the same floor as the third unit sold (#9), it was close to $35,000 cheaper – which also tells us the premium placed on a “perfect” HDB flat – and why they sell at the highest price. – Date: June 2024 – Sale Price: $1.504 million – Flat Type: 5-Room – Area: 114 – Remaining Lease: 87 years (Lease commenced in 2012)   The latest unit to be sold for $1.5 million or more came from Natura loft in July 2024 itself. This can tell us two things: 1) we can perhaps expect more HDB units from Natura Loft (and, in fact, the other developments in this list) to continue fetching the highest prices in Singapore; and 2) we should expect more HDB flats to sell above the $1.5 million-mark as 10 of the 13 units that have ever sold for $1.5 million or more came between May 2024 to July 2024. – Date: July 2024 – Sale Price: $1.568 million – Flat Type: 5-Room – Area: 120 sqm – Remaining Lease: 86 years (Lease commenced in 2011)   One common theme that we see emerging from many of the HDB flats that have sold for $1.5 million or more is that they are usually mega-developments. This typically means they are towering projects, and we can expect the most expensive flats within each development to be near the highest floors with expansive views. These flats also tend to be very centrally located, with four in The Peak @ Toa Payoh DBSS development, four in Tiong Bahru, three in Natura Loft (in Bishan) and another Maisonette in Bishan, and another one in Tanjong Pagar (Pinaccle@Duxton). Finally, we can also see that these flats tend to be larger units that have very limited availability. Besides the Jumbo flat in Tiong Bahru and Maisonette in Bishan, seven other units are DBSS units, and the unit at Pinnacle@Duxton is a unique development. The parting observation we can also make is that 10 of the 13 $1.5 million HDB units came in the last three months – From May 2024 to June 2024. This clearly shows a trend of rising HDB prices, especially within a select few developments.