Tag Archives: Lumiere

Private developers have raised the prices of HDB’s Design, Build and Sell scheme (DBSS) flats to capitalize on the property boom, this coming days after Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan conceding that prices of resale HDB flats will continue to rise.

DBSS projects are designed, built and sold by private developers. They offer condominium-style fittings, layouts and facilities but are subject to public housing rules, such as the household income ceiling, ethnic quotas and a five-year minimum occupation period.

As they are not built by HDB, the prices are set entirely by the private developers who are in the business to make a profit in the first place.

The prices of flats at Natura Loft at Bishan and The Peak@Toa Payoh have risen by up to 3 per cent, or $20,000. Current prices, which average at $500 psf are only slightly lower than prices of completed mass market condominiums in the suburbs such as Orchid Park condominium and the Seletaris in Sembawang. Continue reading →

Increases of up to $20k surprise analysts, given buyers’ income ceiling

The 480-unit Natura Loft at Bishan – an example of HDB’s Design, Build and Sell Scheme – is now more than 80 per cent sold, up from 75 per cent just a month or so ago. Developer QingJian Realty has raised prices by between $5,000 and $20,000 on the back of an improved market. — PHOTO: QINGJIAN REALTY

PROPERTY developers have raised the prices of condominium-style public flats for the first time since their inception, in a bid to ride the mass market property boom.

A check by The Straits Times revealed that prices of flats at Natura Loft at Bishan and The Peak@Toa Payoh have risen by up to 3 per cent, or $20,000, depending on the attributes of the flats.

This move has surprised industry analysts, as buyers of such hybrid flats under the Housing Board’s Design, Build and Sell scheme (DBSS) have a fixed household income ceiling of $8,000.

‘The prices are higher but the income ceiling is still the same. These buyers are unlikely to have seen their wages rise, given the recent recession,’ said one industry analyst who declined to be named. Continue reading →