Tag Archives: HDB

Ban It ?

‘The issue here is cash over valuation.’

MR JASON ZHENG: ‘As a young couple, my fiancee and I cannot compete against buyers with access to cash, which is what most sellers ask for now. I have failed in my attempts at half-yearly sales, so the only option is resale flats. The issue here is cash over valuation (COV). The HDB discourages it because of financial prudence, and refuses loans to cover it. Yet most sellers demand substantial COV. Given the situation, why not ban COV? Alternatively, let HDB loans cover COV.’

Undersupply

‘Should the HDB build 19,000 flats a year instead?’

MR STEVEN YEO: ‘How did the HDB determine that building 8,000 new flats a year is sufficient to meet demand? There are seven applicants for each new flat. For example, there were about 24,000 marriages last year, which means only one-third of newlyweds will get a new flat. The other 16,000 must buy resale or private property. If 80 per cent of the population qualify for subsidised flats, should the HDB build 19,000 flats a year instead?’

Three-room flat

‘What percentage of income will a single Singaporean earning $2,500 a month pay?’ Continue reading

Do the criteria reflect reality?

I REFER to Monday’s letter by the Housing Board, ‘How HDB keeps it affordable’.

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The HDB states that flat prices are determined by willing buyers and willing sellers. In land-scarce Singapore, the notion of ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ has little practical meaning.

Suppose I want to buy a flat in Ang Mo Kio to live close to my parents but the HDB is not building any new flats there. I have no choice but to buy from Ang Mo Kio resellers.

Suppose too, I need to set up a family now and cannot wait for the build-to- order scheme to kick in, what choice do I have but to buy from the resale market?

So ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ is not a realistic picture of what is happening now.

If there are sufficient new flats available for people to choose from, where and when they like, who would be ‘willing’ to buy from the resale market? Continue reading