February 8, 2010
Three days ago, we put up an advertisement of a 5-room HDB flat
in Marine Parade selling for an eye-popping S$990,000.
Now we have another 5-room flat in Telok Blangah asking for
S$999,000, $9,000 more than the earlier flat:
From the photos above, the flat appears to be situated in an
older part of Telok Blangah and is at least 30 years old which
means that it has at most 60 – 70 years left on its lease since all
HDB flats are 99-year old properties.
The exorbitant prices asked by some property agents is a sign
that the red-hot public housing market has got completely out of
control.
The prices of resale flats increased by 8.2 per cent in 2009
when Singapore was mired in recession with Cash-Over-Valuation
(COVs) doubling from $12,000 to $24,000 in the last three
months:
The sky-rocketing prices are fueled largely by limited number of
flats built between the years 2006 – 2008 coupled with the large
influx of foreigners into Singapore during the same period of
time.
Only 3,183 new flats were built in 2008 when there were
over 90,000 PRs and 20,000 new citizens in the same year:
[Source: HDB Financial Report 2008/2009]
The resale market is popped up artificially by PRs and new
citizens. According to Mr Mohamad Ismail, CEO of real estate agency
Propnex, about 20 per cent of the buyers of resale flats are PRs.
ERA and C&H quote their figures at 40 and 50 per cent
respectively.
Despite widespread concerns, worries and frustration among
Singaporeans at the rising prices of HDB flats, the ruling party
continues to insist that they are “affordable”.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said lately that there is nothing
his administration can do to control the prices of resale flats as
they are set between the buyer and the seller themselves.
HDB has promised to increase the supply of new flats, but they
will not be ready until a few years later.
In the meantime, home buyers will have to put up with the
astronomical prices asked for by sellers and agents.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/02/08/another-old-5-room-resale-hdb-flat-in-telok-blangah-asking-for-nearly-s1-million-dollars/
