HDB to allocate more flats for first-time home owners
November 17th, 2009 | 
Author: Written by our Correspondent
In an another move to placate rising frustration and and unhappiness on the ground among first-time home owners, the Housing Board (HDB) has launched more than 1,000 homes for sale in Punggol.
With immediate effect, the Board has increased the number of flats reserved for first-timers at its sales launches from the current level of 90 per cent to 95 per cent.
This applies to both its build-to-order (BTO) scheme – which provides the bulk of HDB flats and where units are built when a certain demand is reached – and the sale of balance flat (SBF) exercise, which typically offers ready flats across the island.
Young Singaporean couples are finding it increasingly hard to purchase a flat of their own in the face of an inflationary property market.
Prices of resale HDB flats have skyrocketed this year with as high as 40 per cent of them being snapped up by PRs, according to a report by real estate firm ERA
State media carried a report of an Indonesian PR who forked out a record high $653,000 for a 4-room flat in Queenstown last week
As the prices of new flats are pegged to that of resale flats in the vicinity, the high prices of resale flats also contribute to their higher prices
HDB claimed that it had incurred a “loss” of $2 billion dollars in its latest annual report as a result of “subsidizing” home owners for their HDB flats which was regarded with widespread skepticism by the public
Despite evidence showing otherwise, HDB continues to insist that public housing remain “affordable” to the majority of Singaporeans.
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan even chided home buyers in the state media for being “fussy”.
Though Singapore saw a huge influx of foreigners between the years 2006 and 2008, HDB did not increase the supply of flats to meet the rising demand leading to the present housing shortage now/
A recent sale of BTO and balanced flats was more than 10 times over-subscribed, an indication of how serious the problem has become
It appears that HDB has changed its tack slightly to soothe frayed nerves ahead of the next general election due by 2011.
More than 85 per cent of Singapore’s population live in public housing built by HDB.
Estate upgrading is used perennially by the ruling party to hold the electorate ransom to its demand to vote for them.
Posted in Editorial
The issue is not whether they allocate more flats to first time buyers but whether they build enough units to cater for first time buyers.
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@Anonymous: Yes, it’s the same old playing of words by our mainstream media…
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what is the stupid use of BTOs? First time buyers and those desperately in need of housing still have to wait for 3-4 years for the damn flats to be built! What rubbish!
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@whatdemocracy – Wait for 3 to 4yrs then realize that the flat given is not what you want because there is smell coming from the rubbish dump.
Giving pork barrel politics with a twist. Give you promises then scare you later.
If you don’t vote for PAP, you never see your HDB.
Now you know why they are paid extremely very very high salaries. They are used best for thinking trickeries.
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We are well ontrack to becoming a nation of debt slaves.
It doesnt take a genius to realise that the einstein’s “miracle of compound” interest translates to an order of magnitude increase in home prices NOT the 30%-40% bandied about currently.
By having HDB prices increase so quickly in such a short amount of time we force homebuyers to stretch out mortgage payments by 5-10years resulting in MUCH higher total interest costs on the mortgage – ie the real increase in housing costs is far greater than the nominal increase in prices seen today.
What is far more alarming is that our so called retirement savings fund aka CPF is used to pay for that housing. Hence, in reality our much vaunted highest savings rate in the world is nothing more than an glorified asset purchase scheme.
A large debt burden on young homeowners, also reduces their ability/propensity to start saving for retirement from a young age. If the current situation continues it is likely that young homeowners today will have underfunded retirements and will have to work well past the current retirement age, assuming work is even available.
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so again HDB is trying hard to solve the housing shortage problem. But alas, they are trying to get far-distance water to put out a current nearby fire! so BTOs doesn’t help to resolve the shortage now, perhaps in 3-4 yrs when the flats are ready! in the end, resale flats will still remain high and unaffordable to many young couples.
GE will be held within next 2 yrs, so there might be a severe backlash on the ruling party!!! let’s just wait n see!
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It the same old trick to calm the citizen by the elite mah bt.
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