Seller beware: That million-dollar dream for your HDB flat may cost you

When it comes to selling your flat, greed is not always good. An unrealistic price tag may leave you without a buyer.

- Joyce Lim

Most flats are not worth $1 million. Yet, when million-dollar transactions do make the headlines, this hard truth seems lost on some home sellers.

In fact, they start jacking up the prices of their own units regardless of whether these fit the bill. Everybody loses out in the end, including the sellers themselves.

Take my niece's recent experience looking for a flat as an example. One of the units that initially caught her eye was a four-room flat near Eunos MRT station - a high-floor unit with an unblocked view.

The seller wanted $1 million even though similar flats in the same area were transacted for between $760,000 and $921,000.

That unit has remained unsold for at least the last three months. Another option farther from the MRT station was listed for sale at $990,000, even though flats in that area sold for between $800,000 and $910,000.

After several rounds of negotiation, my niece and the seller agreed on a price of $960,000. But on the day of signing, the seller reneged on the deal, hoping for a better offer, only to later sell the unit to another buyer for $950,000.

Among those looking to sell their homes, the idea of selling their flats for at least $1 million has become an aspiration, especially if the unit has prized attributes such as being close to an MRT station, and on a high floor with an unblocked view.

Property agents and the authorities have said this million-dollar fixation has led to unrealistic expectations among sellers, who cling to inflated price tags, ignoring market data and advice from property agents.

Agents also said the recent reclassification of HDB Build-To-Order (BTO) flats into Standard, Prime and Plus categories has further fuelled this mindset, with some sellers hoping buyers will pay any price for their flats.

BTO projects classified as Plus or Prime have stricter resale conditions, including a 10-year minimum occupation period (MOP) and a subsidy clawback.