Category Archives: HDB

COV shoots up to $12,000

Posted on 25 Oct 2009 | Comments Off on COV shoots up to $12,000

HDB resale market hits new marks

Be ready to cough up even more hard cash if you are planning to buy a resale HDB flat any time soon, say analysts as the bouyant public residential market – in parallel with the private home sector – set record highs.

Housing board statistics on Friday confirmed what flat-seekers have been complaining about in recent months: The median cash over valuation (COV) – what a buyer has to pay in cash, over and above the bank’s valuation of the property – jumped four times to $12,000 during July to September, from $3,000 in the previous quarter.

Buyers in Yishun and Jurong West had to fork out the most in COV: On average, they paid $16,900. Analysts said this was because the valuation of flats in these two estates was generally lower than for units elsewhere, even though they offer comparable amenities and accessibility.

At the other end of the scale, those who bought resale flats in Pasir Ris paid $7,000 in COV on average.

With the number of new private homes sold hitting a high of 5,578 in Q3, the HDB resale market also set two new marks: First, its resale price index hit a new peak of 145.2. Second, the 11,649 units sold meant that the number of transactions within a quarter is the highest since HDB released such data in 2000. Continue reading →

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Time for wet markets to go

Posted on 24 Oct 2009 | Comments Off on Time for wet markets to go

Untidy relics of the past less popular now, and can’t compete on price

IN RECENT weeks, Singaporeans of all ages have been bemoaning what they feared was the impending loss of several wet markets.

To recap: A few weeks ago, news surfaced that eight privately-run wet markets were to be taken over by large supermarket chains.

That sent lots of residents in the affected areas into a frenzy. Many wrote in to this newspaper’s Forum page, calling for the preservation of the markets and for the Housing Board to reject the sales.

The din grew so loud that a minister had to wade in to soothe frazzled nerves: At the opening of a Marsiling wet market two weeks ago, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, who is also an MP for Sembawang GRC, assured residents that he understood how important such markets were to them, and that he was working to keep wet markets available to them.

But why this curious need to preserve an untidy relic of Singapore’s past? Why keep these wet, stinking, unhygienic monuments to yesteryear?

It certainly isn’t because many of us shop there. Take the privately-run markets. There are 19 here, and most, if not all, are struggling to survive. Business is so bad, it’s no wonder their owners are thinking of letting them go. Continue reading →

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