My friend works for Citibank as a credit card salesperson. He
has only 4 passes at O level and is making more than 5k every
month.
There are tons of people out there who earns more than 4k. Can all
of them afford to buy private? let alone landed? I'll bet that most
of them can't even squeeze out that 20% down payment.
Taking Pip's calculation;
Assuming a couple earning 4k a month can take up to max 500k loan.
Which private estate today cost 500k and less? So far, the only
500k housing I know of are ECs and resales. Unless you are looking
at a studio apartment, most private homes are going at $600k
above.
At this rate, that poor couple can't even afford to buy a 5 room
HDB resale in Bedok. Throw in parents as dependents, living
expenses...
Now I'm beginning to see why they have problems.
Maybe they did stretch themselves further than they should, may
not. We don't know. If they did, I am sure there's a valid reason
for it. For example, why pay over $500k for a 99 year, 5 year old
HDB.
But regardless of whether they buy a private or a resale. It really
does leave them with not much savings. And if they are thinking of
having kids. I can see why they are feeling the crunch.
I say the govt should relook this issue and remove or increase the
8k ceiling. They can also pin a age limit (like below 28 ) to avoid
abuse.
I mean, here is a couple who wants to have children and genuinely
has difficulties. Why not help them out. After all, the govt does
want people to have more children.
Btw, just out of curiosity. Anyone knows how long that ceiling has
remained at 8k?
