With the resale HDB flat market holding firm and prices of resale flats still high, the government has promised to look into shortening the wait for new HDB flats while monitoring the effect of exorbitantly-priced resale flats especially in the downtown areas.
The current wait for applicants of a new BTO (build-to-order) flat is now 3 to 4 years, with some having to wait as long as 6 years. But the wait may soon be shortened to 2 – 3 years, according to National Development Minister Lawrence Wong. For now, applicants who need a flat sooner are opting to ballot for units under the Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) scheme, usually from a pool of units in developments which are nearing completion but have yet to be sold.
Foreigners may be surprised by the high prices for public housing in Singapore (in most countries, public housing areas are rundown and hardly in demand). And while Singaporeans can be proud of a solid and stable public housing sector, the fact that prices were skyrocketing over the past decade, and could potentially happen again if not kept in check, has the government on their toes.
The recent discussion about the high resale value and potential value-appreciation of HDB flats in downtown areas such as at [email protected] has resulted in proposals to have different resale market rules for these units – such as a longer MOP (minimum occupation period), higher resale levies and shorter lease periods. As of now, 18 resale units of the 174 transactions at [email protected] have been sold at $1 million or more. Keeping the public housing system fair will take some skilful tweaking as the population and economic landscape of the future is vastly different from that of 40 years ago.
