Singapore Property Scene Discussion

[Wt_know]

taiwan mei mei say sporean not buying property ...

only buying the "eligibility to stay/use" (is it like COE?) ... lol

 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Wt_know

[therock]

Are Taiwanese homes also leasehold?

Whilst a HDB flat is more like a lease than outright ownership, we do have it for that period at a reasonable price. I know Taiwanese prices are really high.. 

[Fcw75]

Want property and COE to drop ah? Wait long long. Who suffer in the end? The peasants.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/chinas-mega-rich-move-their-wealth-and-partying-singapore-3254251?cid=internal_sharetool_iphone_04022023_cna
 

The presence of recent Chinese arrivals is keenly felt in Singapore, with some relocating to luxury homes with waterfront views on Sentosa Island, which also houses a theme park, a casino and a prestigious golf club.
"You cannot imagine the way they spend money. It's crazy," said Pearce Cheng, CEO of AIMS, a firm providing immigration and relocation services. 

He recalled attending a Chinese client's party where a rare Japanese "Yamazaki 55" whisky, worth around US$800,000 a bottle, was served.
Cheng's firm also helps rich Chinese find luxury condos, hire chauffeurs and enrol kids in private schools. It once even bought US$61,000 worth of cigars.
The new arrivals drive Rolls Royces and Bentleys, and are often spotted at top-tier golf clubs such as the exclusive Sentosa Golf Club, where foreign members pay US$670,000 a year.

[Wt_know]

the peasants can move to JB ... some say Batu Pahat

Edited February 4, 2023 by Wt_know

[inlinesix]

What these ppl buy is out of peasant reach.

How does it affect peasants?

 

[Wt_know]

10 minutes ago, inlinesix said:

What these ppl buy is out of peasant reach.

How does it affect peasants?

no scare no scare ... 6 Feb ... parliamentary debate ... $1K salary can buy BTO ... LOL

Edited February 4, 2023 by Wt_know

[Hubwee]

Last time Ng Yuzhi also open many many bottles of 3.5k per 180 ml sake and treat it like drinking plain water …

know of someone who regularly opens and drink 30-40 k per bottle of wine … guess where are these people now lo …

[inlinesix]

24 minutes ago, Wt_know said:

no scare no scare ... 6 Feb ... parliamentary debate ... $1K salary can buy BTO ... LOL

If $1k salary can buy BTO, be prepare for increase in GST faster than Rimac Nevera

[Wt_know]

"affordable" vs "affordable" ....

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/singapore-parliament-motion-public-housing-hdb-affordable-not-done-enough-3241171

 

 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Wt_know

[Wt_know]

no scare no scare

no highest only higher

next no $10K no talk for HDB rental

https://mothership.sg/2023/02/monthly-rent-for-4-room-tiong-bahru-flat-reaches-s6200/

[inlinesix]

2 hours ago, Wt_know said:

"affordable" vs "affordable" ....

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/singapore-parliament-motion-public-housing-hdb-affordable-not-done-enough-3241171

 

 

PSP want to raid reserves huh?
😜

[Windwaver]

Remember, don't transfer OA to SA

 

 

[Windwaver]

Better buy your resale soon before it goes even higher?

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/first-timers-buying-hdb-resale-flats-to-get-more-support-more-bto-flats-with-shorter-wait-from-2024

First-timers buying HDB resale flats could get more support; more BTO flats with shorter wait from 2024

SINGAPORE - First-timers buying Housing Board resale flats could get more help, as the Government mulls over additional support for those who are looking to buy their first home.

National Development Minister Desmond Lee said on Monday that measures to reduce the high rejection rate for Build-To-Order (BTO) flat applications are also being studied to ensure new flats are prioritised for those with genuine and urgent housing needs. HDB data shows that 40 per cent of applicants invited to book a BTO flat over the past five years ended up not selecting their flat.

In his speech on his motion on affordable and accessible public housing, Mr Lee reiterated that the Government is studying how to provide even more support for those looking to buy their first homes, and will announce these new measures when ready. “We are doing our utmost to improve the accessibility and affordability of HDB flats,” he said. “We know that policies cannot remain static as the aspirations and needs of our people change.”

Mr Lee had filed his motion in response to a separate one by Progress Singapore Party (PSP) Non-Constituency MPs Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa.

Acknowledging that Singaporeans are unhappy about the long waiting times and delays of BTO flats in recent years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Lee said HDB has been catching up on delayed projects.

Outlining the Government’s plans to meet the supply crunch, he noted that more than 23,000 flats were completed in 2022, with another 23,000 flats slated to be handed over to buyers in 2023.

More BTO flats with shorter waiting times of under three years will also be launched from 2024 onwards, he said, adding that the Government aims to roll out around 2,000 to 3,000 of such flats each year by 2025, similar to pre-Covid-19 levels. “After that, over a period of time, we will recalibrate our building programme so that shorter waiting time flats form a larger proportion of our supply of new flats,” said Mr Lee.

HDB has ramped up the supply of BTO flats, and pledged to launch up to 100,000 new flats between 2021 and 2025 if needed to meet demand.

Mr Lee cited several factors that led to the tight housing supply and rising resale prices in the last three years, including the Covid-19 pandemic delaying the construction and completion of BTO flats.

The disrupted supply of BTO flats led some buyers to turn to the HDB resale market, pushing up demand for resale flats, he said.

Demand for new flats also went up as some joined the BTO flat queue earlier to try and secure a flat, causing further anxiety, Mr Lee noted.

In the last three years, the number of first-time BTO applicants rose by 80 per cent, and second-timers by 140 per cent, compared with the period from 2017 to 2019.

Shifts in social norms, such as younger Singaporeans who wish to move out earlier to live on their own, also pushed up housing demand, he said.

Besides ramping up the supply of flats, the Government has also kept BTO prices “almost flat” despite strong demand and construction costs rising by almost 30 per cent in the past two years, said Mr Lee. For instance, a four-room BTO flat in a non-mature estate was priced, on average, at $341,000 in 2019 and $342,000 in 2022, he said.

Mr Lee added that close to 70 per cent of the BTO flats launched in 2022 can be purchased by a household with a median income of $8,400. These households would use a quarter or less of their household income to pay their mortgage instalment, he said.

The home price to income ratio for a four-room flat in a non-mature estate has also dropped from six in 2012 to below five by 2018, he said. This means households use five years or less of their total household income to pay for a home. “This is because the annual increase of BTO flat prices in non-mature estates is less than 1 per cent, lower than the 3 per cent annual increase in incomes.”

In comparison, the same ratio in London, Los Angeles and Sydney is eight to 15, and more than 20 in Hong Kong, he noted.

While Singapore’s public housing system is “far from perfect”, it has made housing accessible and affordable for Singaporeans, and the Government must always keep improving it, said Mr Lee. “Ninety per cent home ownership in a cosmopolitan city is not something that many other major cities have been able to achieve,” he said.

A total of 11 MPs, including Mr Leong and Ms Poa, spoke on Monday. The debate resumes on Tuesday.

[inlinesix]

If implement what PSP suggested, be prepare for further increase in GST

 

[Windwaver]

5 hours ago, inlinesix said:

If implement what PSP suggested, be prepare for further increase in GST

 

She said: “The worry is that flat buyers who used most of their CPF funds to buy the flat will be left with little retirement funds as the value of their flats goes to zero.  Under this proposal, with the land cost deferred, the amount of CPF withdrawn to pay for the flat will be much lower, leaving Singaporeans with more funds in their CPF. This will make the lease decay less of a problem.”

 

Don't forget to row back interest charged

 

[Windwaver]

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/artificially-reducing-prices-of-bto-flats-in-mature-estates-will-drive-up-demand-affect-genuine-buyers-desmond-lee

Artificially reducing mature estates’ BTO prices will spur demand, affect genuine buyers: Desmond Lee

SINGAPORE - Artificially lowering prices of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats in mature estates will increase the windfall gain for successful applicants, drive up competition for such flats and affect buyers with genuine housing needs, said National Development Minister Desmond Lee on Monday.

Application rates for BTO flats in mature estates have shot up in the last three years during the pandemic, giving rise to concerns over access to these flats, said Mr Lee in moving his motion on affordable and accessible public housing.

While available new land in mature estates is limited, the Housing Board has been working to launch more projects in mature estates in the last few years.

“But the irony is, the more BTO flats we supply in mature estates, the more buyers join the queue,” added Mr Lee.

“Why? Because Singaporeans can see that the subsidy in a BTO flat is real and that it means that after the minimum occupation period, they can sell the flat if they need to move and make capital gains... especially for flats in mature estates because they are highly sought after.”

Responding to calls by the Progress Singapore Party’s Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai to remove land costs from the pricing of HDB flats, Mr Lee said pricing new flats even lower would only increase the windfall gain that successful buyers enjoy, thus prompting even more people to join the queue and increasing demand for BTO flats in mature estates.

This would result in greater anxiety among flat buyers, affect first-time buyers who are looking for a flat to build their families and is also unfair to the families that failed to secure a flat in a mature estate, he added.

Instead, HDB is consciously moderating BTO prices in mature estates through the prime location public housing (PLH) model, even as more flats are being built in these areas, said Mr Lee.

He noted that flats in desirable locations in mature estates cannot be priced at the same level as other flats – a point he said Mr Leong has also acknowledged in his Facebook post on the topic.

The Government is considering how to prevent “locational premiums” from pricing out all but the most well-off buyers, while avoiding an excessive windfall gain for those who successfully book such flats in mature estates, said Mr Lee.

“It is easy to ask, why not make flats even cheaper? As a society, we have to debate and agree on how affordability should be fairly defined, because ultimately, we – the people of Singapore – are all collectively paying for it,” he added.

He noted that substantial fiscal resources are already allocated to support HDB’s home ownership programme, with the board incurring a deficit of $3.85 billion in its last financial year.

“Many of us may not appreciate what this means. To put this in perspective, the revenue from the 1 per cent GST increase this year is less than half of this,” he said.

“What about the needs of our citizens for healthcare, education, transport and so on?”

Mr Lee said there have been many alternative housing proposals, including from opposition MPs. “I give them the benefit of the doubt that the intent is to improve the lives of Singaporeans. But they are not as frank about the trade-offs,” he added.

Citing Mr Leong’s suggestion that BTO flats can be cheaper if HDB does not have to pay for state land at fair market value, Mr Lee reiterated that HDB does not price flats to recover its costs.

BTO flat pricing and BTO development costs are two separate and independent things, he added.

As land is part of Singapore’s reserves, proceeds from land sales do not come back to the Government as revenue for spending.

Instead, they go back into the reserves, which is then invested and part of the returns are used to fund the Government’s annual Budget, said Mr Lee.

Not paying fair market value for state land means reducing the value of the reserves and allocating more of it for today’s housing, he noted.

Doing so reduces the resources available to meet other needs, as well as the needs of future generations, he added.

“Mr Leong deliberately avoids these trade-offs and sugar-coats the tough realities we face. But the Government cannot and will not take such an irresponsible approach,” said Mr Lee.

“What this Government believes in is to be frank about our challenges and trade-offs and explain how we seek to meet the competing needs of Singapore in the current generation, as well as balance the needs of this generation with the needs of future generations,” he said.

Eleven MPs spoke during Monday’s debate, including Nominated MP Cheng Hsing Yao, who made the case for why land price should be factored into the cost of public housing.

Mr Cheng noted that land is a rare natural resource for Singapore, and investments have been made to make land useful and more valuable.

He cited underground services such as sewer lines and water pipes, infrastructure such as roads, MRT lines, the airport and sea ports, as well as parks.

To ignore the value of the land when computing the cost of public housing would mean writing off generations of investments into Singapore’s economy, society and environment, he said.

“If we do not factor the value of land into the cost of public housing, we are creating an open loop for land value to be given away for free. Some part of society will enjoy a significant windfall from the free land, while another part of society will be paying for the windfall,” he said.

Mr Cheng added that while some believe that BTO prices in mature and non-mature estates should not be too different as public housing is a public good that serves those in need, HDB dwellers are not a homogeneous group.

Given that 80 per cent of Singaporeans live in public housing, there is a mix of low-income and middle-income earners along with a “good proportion of rather affluent Singaporeans” living in HDB flats, he said.

Flat prices in mature estates are higher because they offer more of what people desire, and buyers are prepared to pay more to live there, he noted.

To artificially suppress prices of BTO flats in mature estates through additional subsidies or grants to buyers would distort real prices, he added.

“Singapore’s public housing programme has gone way beyond providing just for necessity. It has been providing for ‘wants’ and ‘aspirations’ for some time now,” Mr Cheng said.

“The call to either bring down the prices of mature estates or provide more grants to make them more accessible ultimately leads to the same things – more subsidies in the form of taxpayer’s money or tapping the reserves,” he added.

[JanM]

On 2/4/2023 at 6:03 PM, inlinesix said:

What these ppl buy is out of peasant reach.

How does it affect peasants?

 

Knock on effect ?   Atas people priced out so they lower their sight which then affect the next lower level who do likewise .. and so it goes

[Fcw75]

49 minutes ago, JanM said:

Knock on effect ?   Atas people priced out so they lower their sight which then affect the next lower level who do likewise .. and so it goes

Same with COE.