Tag Archives: HDB

Singapore’s public housing authority, Housing & Development Board, is stepping up its supply of new flats to meet increased demand.

In a news release issued on Thursday, it said that with the good response to recent Build-To-Order (BTO) launches, it will be increasing its BTO supply this year from 8,000 units to 9,000 units. The BTO system was introduced in 2001.

In addition, HDB launched a Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise on Thursday, and offered another 2,132 flats for sale. The SBF consists of flats accumulated from earlier BTO exercises, surplus Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) replacement flats and repurchased flats, among others

‘It replaces the existing Balloting Exercise, Quarterly Sales and Half-Yearly Sales. HDB will only conduct the SBF as and when there are sufficient numbers of such flats accumulated,’ HDB said.

Source : Business Times – 1 Oct 2009

I APPLAUD Miss Tan Hui Yee’s commentary yesterday, “Go back to basics for affordable flats”.

An HDB flat is more than just an asset; to many Singaporeans, especially first-time buyers, flats are their humble abode, their place of security. The convenient call to lower expectations cannot hold if the yardstick for affordability varies between the authorities and buyers.

The steady rise in the standard of living has led to a general increase in household incomes; however, the trend has been balanced out by a corresponding rise in the cost of living.

The recession and higher prices have led to home-seekers being unable to purchase flats, because a home loan would place an additional financial burden on them.

For speculators and investors, public housing has turned into a money-spinning tool – be it in terms of rental or investment. If the authorities sustain or even increase the value of public housing, demand and prices would continue to spiral upwards. Home prices in Singapore have soared in recent months, with transactions hitting record monthly highs. This could lead to a real estate bubble and buyers paying extremely inflated prices for their first homes. Continue reading →