Category Archives: HDB

CPF interest rate stays at 2.5% in Q1 next year

CENTRAL Provident Fund members will continue to receive 2.5 per cent a year interest on savings in their Ordinary Account for the first three months of next year.

The CPF board said yesterday the interest rate as derived from those of the major local banks from August to October this year worked out to 0.42 per cent a year. But interest of 2.5 per cent will be paid, as this is the minimum rate provided for under the CPF Act.

With the Housing & Development Board, the CPF Board also said the concessionary interest rate for HDB mortgage loans will remain at 2.6 per cent a year from January to March next year.

For the Medisave, Special and Retirement accounts, the interest rate will be announced in December, after the 12-month average yield of the 10-year Singapore Government Security has been computed.

The CPF interest rate for the Special, Medisave and Retirement Accounts is pegged at one per cent above the yield rate. The current rate of 4 per cent for the October-December period will be kept as the floor until Dec 31 next year, to ‘help members adjust to this floating rate’. In addition, an extra one per cent interest will be paid on the first $60,000 of a member’s combined balances, with up to $20,000 from the Ordinary Account.

Source : Business Times – 17 Nov 2009

Singapore Property : More flats in Punggol with two new BTO projects

HDB has launched two new Build-To-Order (BTO) projects in Punggol Town, with another four BTO projects planned by late 2009 in Bukit Panjang, Sembawang and Dawson.

The latest pair of BTO projects named Punggol Sails and Punggol Ripples offer a total of 1,078 standard flats.

The units will be located along Punggol Field and will be served by the Punggol MRT, LRT stations, bus interchange, and the future Punggol Town Centre with shops, a childcare centre, as well as primary and secondary schools in the area.

They comprise of 130 units of Studio Apartments, 436 units of 3-room, 403 units of 4-room and 109 units of 5-room flats.

The Punggol BTO units will be priced between $65,000 and $92,000 for a Studio Apartment, and $332,000 to $377,000 for a 5-room flat.

The Housing and Development Board said in its news release that most of the latest BTO flats, except for the Studio units, will be set aside for first-time applicants as they generally have more urgent housing needs.

It adds that in addition to a market subsidy on the selling price, eligible
first-timers with an average monthly household income of $5,000 or less may also apply for the Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG) of up to $40,000 which can be used to offset the initial down-payment.

This leaves first-time flat buyers using between 23 and 27 percent of their monthly household to service their monthly mortgage commitment, which the HDB says is well below the 30 percent international benchmark for affordable housing.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 16 Nov 2009