By Jessica Cheam

IF YOU want to live in an HDB flat close to the city, be prepared to pay as much as 50 per cent more than if you choose to stay out in the sticks.

Prices for resale flats in estates near the city such as Central, Bukit Merah and Queenstown have left the rest of the country behind in recent years, according to new HDB data obtained by The Straits Times.

And what is particularly striking is how fast that price differential has widened.

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