http://www.todayonline.com/articles/202076.asp
Blogger exposes rent error
$2,500 record figure not for one, but two combined 3-room Jurong
East flats
Loh Chee Kong
[email protected]
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.
.
On Saturday, The Straits Times ran an article on HDB rents hitting
a 10-year high.
.
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.
.
But the figure turned out to be inaccurate, after an alert blogger
did his own investigations and published the findings on his
blog.
.
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.
.
With a digital camera in hand, Mr Au visited the block and found
that it was half-empty.
.
He asked: "Why would a new tenant pay premium rates when there are
so many unoccupied flats on offer?"
.
When contacted by Today, ERA Singapore, which provided the data on
the Jurong East transaction, acknowledged its mistake.
.
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
You can call it human
error or computer error."
.
Mr Lim added that the "jumbo" flat was rented to a company to house
its foreign workers.
.
Today verified the claim when it visited Block 253.
.
ST said in a statement that the newspaper had "verified the
accuracy of the information with ERA before going to print".
.
But after questions were raised over the flat, the paper
investigated further.
.
"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.
.
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.
.
But Mr P Wang, who bought his four-room unit for $260,000 in
February, felt the high rent was "possible".
.
The 32-year-old technician said: "It could be a one-off, given the
booming property market."
.
Earlier, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan had
expressed his concern over reports of record property prices.
.
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".
.
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
