Leong Sze Hian raises doubts on HDB costs at Hong Lim Park

darkcloud SG

Watch Mr Leong Sze Hian's speech in 2 parts here:

http://singaporeenquirer.sg/?p=370

Excerpts from Mr Leong Sze Hian’s speech:

“Last month in Parliament, a question was asked ‘how many HDB flat holders cannot pay their housing loan ?’. The answer - 33,000, 8% of HDB concessionary loans are in arrears for more than 3 months.”

“At the height of the subprime crisis in U.S., according to a local newspaper, the deliquency rate over 90 days was only 5% and here in Singapore, for HDB loans, we have 8%. So is the subprime problem more serious here in Singapore than over in the U.S. ?”

“The HDB used to publish every year a statistic called ‘Financial assistance to HDB flat dwellers’. For this year and last year in the annual report, this statistic has disappeared !”

“Every time a question is asked in Parliament - “Are HDB flats still affordable ?”. The answer is always ‘yes’. Why ? Because the average Singaporean household pay not more than 25% of their annual income for the HDB flat, therefore it is affordable. This to me is like telling you the obvious. If you cannot afford the HDB flat, will you buy it or not ?”

4sg SG

When the economy grows, HDB prices its flat at 'market rate'.

When the economy declines, the same purchased flat has been fixed at the high 'market rate'.

Flawed pricing strategy at its core.

youyayu SG

i don't understand why are they still over this issue..

price up, why u nv say your pay was $200 when the house is 33k?
so when ur pay is $2k u still expect housing still 33k?

angel7030 SG

When the economy grows, HDB prices its flat at 'market rate'.

When the economy declines, the same purchased flat has been fixed at the high 'market rate'.

Flawed pricing strategy at its core.

Same mah, when u come to my pub, drinks still charge the same, ladies still tips the same and room charges still remain the same.

Its not a matter of flawed pricing, its called "Daylight Robbery"

4sg SG

i don't understand why are they still over this issue..

price up, why u nv say your pay was $200 when the house is 33k?
so when ur pay is $2k u still expect housing still 33k?

In a recession n if u are retrenched with 2 mouths to feed, your pay is not 0 but minus xxxxx.

If u are rich, u never understand the problem of the lower incomers.

4sg SG

Same mah, when u come to my pub, drinks still charge the same, ladies still tips the same and room charges still remain the same.

Its not a matter of flawed pricing, its called "Daylight Robbery"

In a recession, I can choose not to come to your pub for you to chop

But in a recession, the poor retrenched worker still has to pay for the exceedingly high mortgage loan.

And maybe, with readjusted higher interest rate, as the recession set in.

seyKai SG

maybe HDB has forgotten that they rob lands from the people at dirt price

and value them at their value

They draft a HDB falt plan at $3m and use it for 100 block of flats and still cost $3m each n not $3m / 100 blocks

This is knock the daylights out robbery

4sg SG

maybe HDB has forgotten that they rob lands from the people at dirt price

and value them at their value

They draft a HDB falt plan at $3m and use it for 100 block of flats and still cost $3m each n not $3m / 100 blocks

This is knock the daylights out robbery

Exactly.

Their mathematic only logical from a single point of views - theirs.

Evangel SG

Don't need to think so much everyone should have realized. It doesn't cost more than 50k to build a HDB flat unit. In fact, people in the industry have said that it cost around 20k-30k cost per unit. 3,4,5 room unit, how much space bigger only? Just that have more cramp rooms mah.

If you can't afford, rent. Makes no difference from a 99yr leasehold from HDB. Your house will still be your liability unless you intend not to live there and sold it for a profit. Can we be 100% sure that we could sell it at profit in the future?

If you are struggling to make ends meet, isn't it better to pay $600 rent per month than $800 monthly instalments?

If your income is not very high, you would most likely stay in the house you bought for life. So would your life be better if you had paid $600 than $800?

Of course there are other good reasons to buy your own house. Leave it to everyone to think about it. It's just an example.

charlize SG

Haiz.

Half a million dollars or more for affordable public housing.