IT IS easy to pin the blame on new migrants, given the news that Singapore let in a good 55,000 more permanent residents (PRs) in the year leading up to June. This means that the number of PRs grew by 11.5 per cent, the biggest jump in at least six years.
As a PR cannot buy a new flat directly from the HDB, his cheapest option is a resale flat. Typically, PRs pick up three- to four-room flats before upgrading to bigger homes once they become fully fledged citizens.
Major property agency ERA did not allay suspicions of the PR link to rising prices when it revealed last month that PRs made up 40 per cent of buyers in its resale flat deals. Three years ago, they accounted for just 20 per cent of its buyers.
Since ERA-only deals account for about 30 per cent of the HDB resale market, many home-seekers are quick to conclude that PRs are to be blamed.
But HDB statistics show that PRs bought only about 20 per cent of resale flats this year. That proportion has stayed roughly constant over the past three years. Continue reading
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