If you wonder where these are quaint beautiful houses are, they are just located off Jalan Mamor, Whampoa. This estate is serene and unique, and they are basically made up of 2 storey high houses. You probably will be surprised to know that they are actually belonged to HDB, which are HDB Landed Terrace built by SIT (then HDB) in 1972.
Walking in the estate, you will note that each of the unit owners is home proud and taking extreme good care of their houses. Each house comes with its decorative …

HDB flat upgraders are making up 44% of private residential sales in March. This figure is considered very high considering the figure is only 33 to 34% in Jan & Feb, and even lower in the previous years.
Just take a look at the commentary in bold on the high percentage of HDB buyers in the appended article. Many HDB upgraders are rushing into the private property market thinking that they might miss the boat if they wait for longer. The fear of missing the boat is somehow amplified with the ever increase …

Reading the article “Dream home out of reach” on a Sunday morning poses the same question to me: If you do not own a house now, will you commit to become one of many Fang Nu – “housing slave” in order to afford a house that is far out from your affordability?
The answer could be a “Yes”, “No”, or “Maybe”. In all cases, the frustration and annoyance are just growing stronger with the each day property price increase. It is especially for people who need to purchase a house out …

Yet another record breaking HDB flat from Bras Basah sold at $650,000 or a record smashing $736psf. This jaw dropping price was set by a Taiwance PR couple who purchased a HDB flat left with 70 year lease. On the other hand, the Government is stepping out strongly to maintain the stand that the public housing is still affordable, based on their own sets of parameter.
Let’s take a look at these 2 articles brilliantly dissecting the topic on housing affordability in Singapore:
The TRUTH about Housing affordability in Singapore….. By Diary of …

I thought that there would be more property issues being highlighted in the Budget 2010, since it has become a persistent matter to most people in today’s context. However it seems that the Government is still adopting a free-market oriented approach, with the exception of 2 recent rules to curb property speculation on the ground level (these 2 rules are much more lenient measures implemented relatively to the measures adopted in China & HongKong)
Still there are still calls for review for housing policies, especially in the HDB which providing more than 80% …

The receptiveness towards leasehold over freehold in Singapore has been improving over the years. Are the buyers more tolerant of the shortcomings of leasehold in the rising property market we are in now? Or there are simply not so many available freehold markets that we can pin our hope on inn buying in the land-scarce Singapore.

1. My gut feel for the rising acceptance of leasehold property is very much to do with the affordability of the leasehold unit in comparison to a freehold development. It is especially so for the …

We are seeing much discussion surrounding the topic of excessive cash premiums for HDB flats, with buyers desperate to get into public housing market. The cash premiums, equivalent to Cash-over-Valuation (COV), has hit as high as the median at $24,000 in the fourth quarter of last year, based on the Housing Board (HDB) data. In a way of saying, if the valuation of the HDB unit is $400,000, the buyer may have to fork out around $24,000 more on top to purchase it.
As the ERA Asia Pacific associate director Eugene …

Another record breaking news for HDB resale making the headline: A two-room flat in Chinatown was sold for $245k, creating a new record for the re-sale price of HDB two-room flats.

Just few months back, we had a couple of Indonesian PR forking out $653k to purchase a 4 room flat of 969 sf at Strathmore Avenue, making it a deal of $674 psf. It may be true that now and then there will be individual cases buying at record breaking price due to personal preference & decision. And this may …

There has been so much discussion on Singapore public housing, Housing Development Board (HDB) these days. Many issues were raised from the affordability of public housing, and the priority of HDB as an authority in ensuring a fair housing pricing to the heartlanders, to the adequacy of the supply in response to the ever increasing demand from the Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PR).
Housing is a complex issue. Housing in Singapore is reckoned not just as a social issue, rather it presents as a commodity having impact on the financial sector development and macroeconomic …

My clients have been discussing with me lately on the option on buying private resale units or purchasing newly launched project from the developer. More and more buyers are perceptive to private resale as private resale has been more attractive in comparison to new launched and the HDB flats in prime area. Buying resale seems to be a more feasible alternative to many house buyers now.
1. Great demand from HDB upgraders:
HDB resale flat prices raises, narrowing the price gap with private housing. It has also made it easier for HDB dwellers to upgrade to a …