If an HDB property is 49-years old, you’d expect nothing but depreciation. But what if it’s a landed home? This week, one of the rare HDB terrace houses in Whampoa sold for a whopping $1.268 million, making it the most expensive HDB transaction to date. That’s ignited some debate about whether or not it’s worth buying these old properties, balancing the limited lease against affordable living space. Here’s what you should know: Wait, since when has HDB had landed property? HDB never actually built terrace houses. Rather, these units were constructed by HDB’s predecessor, the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT). There are an estimated 200 units at Jalan Bahagia (Whampoa), and 84 units along Stirling Road (Queenstown). HDB “inherited” these properties, once it replaced SIT in the 1960’s. Since then, HDB has not built any landed properties. As such, these 284 units (thereabouts) are rare, with most dating back to 1972 (some go back to 1968)....