In today’s digital age, information is available at the snap of your fingers, and all the more it should help you clinch that property deal you’ve been chasing after.
There might be a misconception that property agencies have control of all the data, or that information is only available for a fee. The good news is that there are several free services to help you make informed decisions, and ultimately lead to a better deal.
Here are our top 3 recommendations for quick and effective property tools:
1. Research past transacted prices to understand the market
Past transacted prices provide you with a benchmark on how much properties within your area were sold for in recent times.
If yours is a Housing Development Board (HDB flat), check out their in-built Map Services, nifty tool that automatically collates resale price, date and unit data for past transactions up to the past 12 months. It’s a free service that not many know about but its data can help all potential HDB buyers and sellers.
What about private properties? The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) also has a tremendously large amount of archival data free for public use. Again, price, data and locations can be filtered in your search.
You can even dive for a deeper look into specific projects or districts, and there is a longer period of data (5 years) which can be useful for older condos on the market.
2. Use One Map to research distances of all nearby amenities
Apart from price, location ranks high on the list of homebuyers’ most important factors. Some want to move to a property within 1 or 2km to a top primary school to have a higher chance of admission, while others are picky about being a short walk away to an MRT station.
Instead of fumbling around Google Maps, the Singapore government has released One Map, an online portal that automatically calculates the exact distance to various amenities from public transport, markets, community centres etc. Just input the postal code of the property you are eyeing, and the information is conveniently generated for you.
In this example above, we used a random HDB block – 61 Marine Drive – and instantaneously we know that the upcoming Marine Parade station on the Thomson-East Coast Line is only 330m walk away, and the polyclinic is ever closer at 131m.
To check on all properties within 1-2km distance for a specific school, use the “school query” tab/function which can be found in the top right of a desktop browser. There is so much info to discover on One Map that you’d be surprised at what you didn’t know about your own neighbourhood!
3. Use ShoutOuts and let sellers come to you
On Ohmyhome’s mobile app (available on iOS and Android), you can make use of our unique feature ShoutOut that lets buyers and tenants let the entire Ohmyhome family that they’re looking for a specific unit type or location.
Think of ShoutOuts as a property portal that isn’t full of listings by sellers and agents, but for buyers to “shout out” to the rest of Singapore that you’re ready and keen on getting a specific property. You can input fields such as location, budget, no. of rooms, and there is also an open-ended field for special requests.
This works both ways for sellers too! If your own home details matches that from a ShoutOut, you now have a direct point of contact to that buyer and could lead to a quick sale.
Data is here to stay
Data was often overlooked in the past, but the emergence of tech in property transactions makes data and automatic matching more accessible and useful to those who want to buy/sell their home on their own. All at the fastest speed possible.
But if numbers are not your thing, Ohmyhome’s agents can do it for you! When you engage Ohmyhome’s services, you’ll have up to date information through our proprietary databases. Our Super Agents can then help you sell your property fast and at the right price.
Looking for an HDB or private property?
Here’s how you can speed up your home search
Let Ohmyhome’s smart data-matching technology MATCH you with the right home, according to your specific needs. Submit your preferences to us and our algorithm will filter all our available listings based on those, and we’ll WhatsApp them to you once we find a match. We’ll also send you relevant content that you can use for your research and inform your home buying decision, so you no longer have to spend hours searching online for the information that you need.
You can message us in the chatbox at the bottom, right-hand corner of the screen to secure an appointment with any of our Super Agents.. You can also WhatsApp us at 9727 5270!
Frequently asked questions
Do you have to pay for information and data on property transactions?
A lot of basic information is available online for free, including both HDB and private property, at HDB’s and URA’s websites.
Where can I find deeper analysis on property data?
Many property portals offer analysis, but Ohmyhome Insights makes the information easy to digest, and is summarised so that you only get the most relevant points.
What are the most important data points for property research?
Apart from price, floor space, floor level, and age of the property are the most commonly researched data points.
