Er, What is COV?
Where do you see this?
In media reports on Housing Board resale flats and online or
classified property advertisements.
What does it mean?
COV stands for cash over valuation.
It refers to the cash amount which buyers typically
pay on top of the valuation of an HDB resale flat.
This occurs when buyers choose to pay more than the
market value of the flat as determined by an HDB panel of
independent professional valuers.
COV payments are not compulsory but they can rise
sharply in a booming market.
Why is it important?
It affects the price of a resale flat.
It has to be paid up front in cash as the amount
the HDB or the banks will lend is based only on the flat's
valuation. The median COV has been falling in recent times,
dropping from $35,000 at the start of the year to $12,000 last
month - the lowest since it hit $10,000 in July 2009.
So you want to use the term. Just say...
"Now's a good time to buy a resale flat as the COV has dropped a
lot in the neighborhood I am looking at."
Invest, The Sunday Times, November 10, 2013, Pg 48