Tag Archives: HDB

How HDB determines the prices of flats

A new flat’s equivalent market price is first determined by looking at the recent transacted prices of resale units nearby.

Adjustments are then made to account for factors like location, finishes of the flat and other attributes. The price reflects the flat’s value at the point of purchase and is what people are willing to pay on the open market for such a unit.

The HDB then sells it at a significant discount, which is the subsidy given by the Government. The HDB sells flats based on market price instead of cost as this is the fairest way of pricing new flats.

A market-based pricing approach ensures that all groups of buyers enjoy similar discounts to the market and would be fair to those who are buying other HDB flats today.

It is not tenable for the HDB to price flats according to their development cost, which fluctuates depending on factors such as site conditions, material price and tendered construction price.

Source : Straits Times – 20 Sep 2009

Married, but no place of their own

Mr Jayce Ng and his wife Jacelyn, both 30, live in separate homes as they wait for an affordable flat. — ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

Each time after a movie or dinner date, married couple Jayce Ng and Jacelyn Yong return to separate homes.

He goes to his parents’ apartment in Hume Avenue and she to Hougang.

The couple, who are both 30 and registered their marriage last year, have yet to find a home to call their own, priced out by the current property rally.

‘I recently received a text message from an agent, who gave a listing of 10 Bukit Panjang flats, all asking for cash over valuation (COV) of between $40,000 and $50,000,’ said Mr Ng, a process analyst. ‘But we just can’t fork out the cash.’ Continue reading