Blogger exposes rent error
$2,500 record figure not for one, but two combined 3-room Jurong East flats
Loh Chee Kong
IT WAS an eye-popping figure, even in the midst of a property market boom — and it turned out to be too good to be true.
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On Saturday, The Straits Times ran an article on HDB rents hitting a 10-year high.
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Citing rental figures from property agencies, ST reported — also listing other transactions in various locations — that a 3-room unit in Block 253 in Jurong East St 24 fetched a monthly rental of $2,500.
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But the figure turned out to be inaccurate, after an alert blogger did his own investigations and published the findings on his blog.
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Mr Alex Au, who runs the yawningbread.org website, told Today that the unrealistic figure raised his eyebrows, especially since he lived just a few blocks away from Block 253.
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With a digital camera in hand, Mr Au visited the block and found that it was half-empty.
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He asked: "Why would a new tenant pay premium rates when there are so many unoccupied flats on offer?"
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When contacted by Today, ERA Singapore, which provided the data on the Jurong East transaction, acknowledged its mistake.
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Its vice-president Eugene Lim said: "It was a transaction in 2005, but it was actually for two units of 3-room flats that were combined. Under the data churned out by our computer, it was classified as a 3-room flat transaction Â… You can call it human error or computer error."
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Mr Lim added that the "jumbo" flat was rented to a company to house its foreign workers.
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Today verified the claim when it visited Block 253.
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ST said in a statement that the newspaper had "verified the accuracy of the information with ERA before going to print".
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But after questions were raised over the flat, the paper investigated further.
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"We found that the $2,500 monthly rental was being paid for a 'jumbo' flat in Block 253 which comprised two adjoining 3-room flats," it said.
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Over at Block 510 Woodlands Drive 14 — also cited in the ST report — residents said they were "surprised" at the $2,200 monthly rent that an executive unit at their block fetched.
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But Mr P Wang, who bought his four-room unit for $260,000 in February, felt the high rent was "possible".
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The 32-year-old technician said: "It could be a one-off, given the booming property market."
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Earlier, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan had expressed his concern over reports of record property prices.
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Mr Au agreed that the media had to be "very careful" with information supplied by third parties, "especially when there might be a vested interest".
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The latest episode goes to show how the mainstream media and the blogosphere could complement each other in revealing "the truth", he added. "Working together in a more active media scene benefits everybody."
$2,500 record figure not for one, but two combined 3-room Jurong East flats