Tag Archives: HDB News

HDB flats: Prices and quantity

Posted on 15 Sep 2009 | Comments Off on HDB flats: Prices and quantity

The affordability and availability of HDB flats were concerns raised by several MPs. This is an edited excerpt of the replies from National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.

Cash over valuation

  • MP Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC): Is the practice of cash over valuation – the additional amount that buyers are willing to pay in cash above the bank value of a flat – a barrier to cash-poor Singaporeans buying resale HDB flats? Can a loan be provided?Cash over valuation is not an HDB invention or imposed by the Government, but part and parcel of any property transaction. The additional amount has to be paid in cash because the banks and HDB lend up to only 90 per cent of the valuation.Buyers can choose not to pay cash over valuation. Latest data shows that almost one-third of transactions are transacted at or below valuation.Be prepared to shop around, do your homework and remember that not all cash over valuations that buyers ask for are realistic ones.The Government will not ban cash over valuations, but leave it to the market of willing buyers and sellers.

    Providing a loan is not prudent as it will cause flat prices to go up further, such that when they fall, buyers will get seriously hurt. Continue reading →

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    HDB flats affordable, says Mah

    Posted on 15 Sep 2009 | Comments Off on HDB flats affordable, says Mah

    Eight in 10 Singaporean households qualify for the various housing grants the Government gives to flat buyers, even those who buy resale flats.

    AMID concerns about escalating prices of resale flats, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday assured Singaporeans that HDB flats remain affordable to most.

    He said first-time households use on average less than 30 per cent of their household income to service their housing loans, which is within the yardstick the Government uses to measure affordability.

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    Also, eight in 10 Singaporean households qualify for the various housing grants the Government gives to flat buyers, even those who buy resale flats.

    He was responding to four MPs who queried the affordability of HDB flats, including Ms Jessica Tan (East Coast GRC), who was worried that young couples could not qualify for housing grants. She wanted the $8,000 income ceiling to qualify for a new HDB flat or to be eligible for a grant to buy a resale flat to be raised.

    Mr Mah rejected the request, saying, ‘There must be a limit to the number who can qualify.’ Continue reading →

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