Private developers have raised the prices of HDB’s Design, Build and Sell scheme (DBSS) flats to capitalize on the property boom, this coming days after Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan conceding that prices of resale HDB flats will continue to rise.
DBSS projects are designed, built and sold by private developers. They offer condominium-style fittings, layouts and facilities but are subject to public housing rules, such as the household income ceiling, ethnic quotas and a five-year minimum occupation period.
As they are not built by HDB, the prices are set entirely by the private developers who are in the business to make a profit in the first place.
The prices of flats at Natura Loft at Bishan and The Peak@Toa Payoh have risen by up to 3 per cent, or $20,000. Current prices, which average at $500 psf are only slightly lower than prices of completed mass market condominiums in the suburbs such as Orchid Park condominium and the Seletaris in Sembawang.
With the fixed income household income ceiling of $8,000 remaining intact, buyers will find these flats increasingly priced out of their reach.
With the government expressing optimism for the HDB property market, it is little wonder that private developers have now rushed in to make a quick buck by raising prices.
Since HDB flats are basic necessities in Singapore, Singaporeans will have no choice but to cough out additional cash to pay for these over-priced flats.
At current prices, HDB flats have ceased to be affordable to ordinary Singaporeans. Even the middle class with a household income of more than $8,000 are finding it hard to service the mortage loans. With the exception of banks, property developers and agents, the rising prices have not benefitted the majority of Singaporeans.
Home buyer Cheow Kai Ying, 27, is one who feels that couples with an $8,000 income ceiling are unlikely to be able to afford such upmarket HDB flats if prices increase any further. ‘Public flats are, after all, meant to be subsidised,’ said Mrs Cheow.
For Singaporeans who have a choice, they may like to consider forking out $100,000 to $200,000K more to buy a resale condominium in the suburbs as the gap between the mass market homes and resale HDB flats have narrowed considerably in the last 2 years.
A 3-room condominium in Rosewood, a leasehold project in Woodlands, now fetches between $550,000 and $600,000 which is only slightly higher than similiar-sized DBSS and resale flats in prime districts like Bishan and Toa Payoh.
Given the economic uncertainties ahead, it will not be prudent to pay so much for an uncompleted flat for if the market were to crash in two to three years time, Singaporeans who bought these flats at their peak prices will be plunged into dire straits.
The government has shown to be most unreceptive to the concerns of Singaporeans so far and it appears that the only way left for Singaporeans is to stop being held ransom to the inflationary market and hold out till the prices drop.
Source : The Temasek Review – 5 Sep 2009
Lush Dream Home 