Four- and five-room flats in Punggol look to be the most heavily subscribed among first-time home buyers in this month's Build-To-Order exercise which closes at midnight. A total of 3,898 flats were launched in this month's Build-To-Order exercise. They are all in non-mature estates of Sengkang, Punggol and Bukit Batok. Analysts say this may be one reason why there has been a small dip in the overall...
hdb news
Some real estate agencies say more singles have returned to the HDB resale market after getting more clarity about the government's plan to allow singles to buy new flats directly from the Housing and Development Board. Propnex and Dennis Wee Group have seen 20 percent more enquires and viewings from singles in recent weeks. Lately, some property agents have been getting more calls from singles, who have...
Many have said the 30 per cent cut in new Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat prices that National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan pledged recently will be tough to achieve without serious repercussions on the housing market. This is because it is very difficult to reconcile the divergent interests of existing owners with those of new buyers. Existing owners want the highest values, while new...
Housing must be affordable, but the Housing & Development Board (HDB) must also remain financially viable, said former HDB chief executive officer Liu Thai Ker. He was speaking about Singapore's housing policies at a lecture organised by the Ministry of National Development (MND) on Thursday. Dr Liu, who is also the chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities, said that Singapore must remain prudent,...
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has launched four Build-To-Order (BTO) projects, offering 3,898 new flats. They are in three non-mature towns - Bukit Batok, Punggol and Sengkang. HDB said on Thursday that a wide variety of flats are being offered. On the whole, it will launch a total of 25,000 BTO flats in 2013. In the latest launch on Thursday, first-time buyers will continue to get priority...
Analysts have said that it's timely to rebuild multi-generational flats, in view of Singapore's changing demographics. Their comments follow National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan's announcement that such flats may be built in Yishun, to test demand. The units at block 633, Yishun Street 61 built in 1987 are some of HDB's multi-generational flats rolled out in 1986. These flats, typically consist...
Many singles have been waiting for months, some for years, but when it was finally announced that those among them aged 35 and above will soon be able to buy new flats directly from the Housing and Development Board (HDB), the details came as a big letdown. The singles have been eagerly awaiting the green light to buy three-room Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, if not larger ones. After all, the new three-room...
National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said his ministry plans to see how it can come up with a new housing option which can be a lot cheaper than today's prices for Build-To-Order (BTO) flats. He said if such a low-cost housing option is offered, there must be restrictions to differentiate it from the existing BTO flats. Some restrictions proposed by a few MPs include a longer minimum occupation...
National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan has rebutted claims that the new scheme, which allows singles to buy new flats directly from the government, appeals to only a small group of people. Mr Khaw had announced last week that singles aged 35 and above who earn up to S$5,000 a month will be allowed to apply for two-room Build-to-Order (BTO) flats. He was responding to a clarification raised by MP for...
The government will ramp up the supply of rental flats to 60,000 this year, a 20 per cent increase from the 50,000 last year. Announcing this in Parliament on Monday, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for National Development Maliki Osman said the government has always been committed to helping the weak and vulnerable victims of circumstances. Dr Maliki said one way the government has done this is through...