Anyone who owns an HDB flat and has been quietly wondering about an executive condominium will have noticed the headline out of Tanjong Pagar this week. Stacked Homes reports that a five-room unit at The Pinnacle @ Duxton, in Block 1C along Cantonment Road, changed hands for $1.72 million, or about $1,493 psf. The flat sits on the 19th to 21st floor band, measures roughly 1,152 sq ft and has around 83 years of lease remaining. Stacked says it is the highest price recorded for a five-room resale flat in the Central Area.
What makes the sale interesting is the comparison. Only two weeks earlier, a unit in Block 1B on a higher floor band, the 28th to 30th, sold for $1.701 million, about $1,477 psf. Stacked also observes that the ceiling for the block has climbed by more than $280,000 since October 2023, with prices bunched closely across a wide spread of floors. In other words, the usual assumption that a higher floor commands a clear premium did not hold in this pair of deals.
If you are an owner, the sensible question is what this changes for you, and the honest answer is very little. Duxton is a central, niche estate with a distinctive design and a tiny pool of comparable sales. One transaction there says nothing dependable about a flat in the heartlands, and it certainly does not predict what a private or executive condominium will cost. Treating it as proof that your own unit is worth more would be a mistake. A far better yardstick for your flat is recent sales in your own block and neighbouring ones, checked against your own plans.
Where the story does help is in framing the decision. Owners considering a move usually agonise over timing, and a headline like this can tempt people to sell on emotion. It is better to work backwards from what you need: the size of home, the location, the monthly commitment you are comfortable carrying, and how long you expect to stay. Eligibility for an EC has its own rules, so check the current criteria with the relevant authorities before assuming you qualify.
For a sense of what an EC in the pipeline looks like, take Solano Grand EC. It is a CDL project in District 23, Bukit Panjang, on a 99-year lease, with about 300 units in total. Transport is layered: Jelapang LRT is nearby, and Bukit Panjang MRT on the Downtown Line (DT1) is roughly 1.16km away. Pre-launch registration is open, which lets interested households get project updates early. The location page sets out the surroundings in more detail.
The takeaway from Duxton is modest but useful: prices at the top of a niche estate can compress, and single records are easy to over-read. Keep your attention on your own numbers, and use news like this as a prompt for questions rather than a verdict.
If an upgrade is on your mind, reach out to the team to talk through the project and what registering involves.
General information only, not financial or legal advice.It also helps to separate two questions that often get blurred. One is what your current flat might fetch; the other is what you can comfortably afford in the next home. A record in a central estate can nudge the first question into the headlines, but it does not answer the second, which turns on your finances and your plans for the coming years.
>Source: Stacked Homes. This article is independent commentary; Solano Grand EC is not affiliated with the parties mentioned.