Think before selling HDB flat, says DPM

[mr funny]

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,4574,381728,00.html?

Published April 19, 2010

Think before selling HDB flat, says DPM

It's a key source of financial security upon retirement, home owners told

By JOYCE HOOI


DEPUTY Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng yesterday urged home owners to think before selling their HDB flats in the current upbeat property market.

'In today's brisk market, some of us may be tempted to sell our flat for a profit. I urge you to think carefully before you act on it. Your HDB flat is meant for you to keep for a longer term. It is a key source of financial security upon your retirement,' said Mr Wong, who is also Home Affairs Minister and MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, yesterday.

'There are various ways of monetising the value of your HDB flats when you are ready to do so. But please do not sell your flat until you are satisfied that you have another place to stay.'

Mr Wong was speaking at the HDB's 50th anniversary celebration near the Bishan MRT station.

As part of a series of year-long celebrations to commemorate 50 years of public housing, the 'Storeys of Our Homes' exhibition will be on the move throughout the heartlands until July this year.

Held in the towns representing the five main zones - Eunos, Bishan, Choa Chu Kang, Woodlands, and Tampines - the exhibition is set to move on to the zone celebration in Choa Chu Kang next month, followed by the ones in Woodlands and Tampines in June and July, respectively.

The exhibition will cover the main milestones that have come to mould public housing today, and recent developments like Remaking Our Heartland plans, The Pinnacle@Duxton and Treelodge@Punggol.

'In the early years, housing conditions were deplorable. There was a severe housing shortage, with many living in slums and squatter colonies,' said Mr Wong.

'The first task HDB faced was quite an uphill one - to re-house the large numbers of people from the squatters and farmlands urgently. HDB built basic housing that was cheaper and faster to construct.'

Mr Wong pointed out the upgrading that eight towns - Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh, Bishan, Serangoon, Kallang/Whampoa, Queenstown, Bukit Merah and the Central Area - had enjoyed to date.

'The government has spent nearly $3.4 billion to complete the upgrading of the living environment for more than 150,000 households in these eight towns,' said Mr Wong.

'It has also committed another $1 billion to upgrade the living environment for yet another 85,000 households. I can assure you that as long as we have the financial resources, the government will continue to extend upgrading to all other households eligible for upgrading.'

[jlrx]

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,4574,381728,00.html?

Published April 19, 2010

Think before selling HDB flat, says DPM

It's a key source of financial security upon retirement, home owners told

By JOYCE HOOI


DEPUTY Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng yesterday urged home owners to think before selling their HDB flats in the current upbeat property market.

'In today's brisk market, some of us may be tempted to sell our flat for a profit. I urge you to think carefully before you act on it. Your HDB flat is meant for you to keep for a longer term. It is a key source of financial security upon your retirement,' said Mr Wong, who is also Home Affairs Minister and MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, yesterday.

What is the DPM trying to say?

PROPERTISM!!!

PROPERTISM Rule No. 1 - Property prices always go up in the long term hence properties should only be bought and not sold.

For those who still cannot get the message, let me reproduce the above message again below. I am NOT going to add or subtract a single word the DPM says. I'll just re-pace his statement. Here goes:

Think :tsk-tsk: before selling HDB flat, says DPM

It's a key source of financial security upon retirement, home owners told :tsk-tsk:

By JOYCE HOOI


DEPUTY Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng yesterday urged home owners to think :tsk-tsk: before selling their HDB flats in the current upbeat property market.

'In today's brisk market, some of us may be tempted to sell our flat for a profit. I urge you to think
c a r e f u l l y
before
you
act.

[mr funny]

http://www.straitstimes.com/PrimeNews/Story/STIStory_516265.html

Apr 19, 2010

Govt to spend $1 billion to upgrade 85,000 flats


MORE than 85,000 Housing Board flats in eight neighbourhoods in central Singapore will be upgraded in a project that will cost $1 billion, said Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng yesterday at an event to mark HDB's 50th anniversary this year.

The Government has already spent $3.4 billion in some form of upgrading for 150,000 public flats in these towns which include Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, Toa Payoh, Queenstown and Bukit Merah.

Mr Wong, who is also Home Affairs Minister, said: 'I can assure you that as long as we have the financial resources, the Government will continue to extend upgrading to all other households eligible for upgrading.'

These eight towns in the Central Zone have a total of 250,000 flats or a quarter of all HDB units in the country.

Mr Wong also took the occasion to remind HDB flat owners to be careful when selling off their homes for a tidy profit and that they should sell only after they have found a new place to live in.

'In today's brisk market, some of us may be tempted to sell our flat for a profit,' he told a a crowd of about 400 people in Bishan. 'Your HDB flat is meant for you to keep for the long term. It is a key source of financial security upon your retirement.'

Without elaborating, he added that there are various ways for home owners to monetise the value of their HDB flats when they are ready to do so.

Mr Wong's comments came weeks after a Bishan Street 24 penthouse maisonette became the most expensive HDB flat ever sold at a price of $900,000.

Property prices have been on a high in recent times, and even resale prices of public flats are fetching previously unseen prices.

Long-time Bishan resident, Ms Lee Ker Hwa, 49, who has lived in her five-room flat in Street 13 with her three sisters since 1987, is not planning to sell.

Ms Lee added that her flat, which she bought for about $99,000 back then, is now worth more than $500,000. 'Location is very important to me so I still would not sell my flat. It's near to town and amenities are all nearby.'

Mr Wong also said in his speech that HDB has gone beyond just providing mere physical buildings and structures to ensuring that policies and programmes in estates enhance family and social ties.

SUJIN THOMAS

[Regulators]

Those who sold their flats and camp on the beach are the ultimate goons of all. Those people without financial woes who cash out on their flats without planning for the next step are unbelievably idiotic. :doh: :doh:

[urban]

Those who sold their flats and camp on the beach are the ultimate goons of all. Those people without financial woes who cash out on their flats without planning for the next step are unbelievably idiotic. :doh: :doh:

They probably are using the sales proceeds for some 'emergency' needs, thinking they can easily/cheaply buy another one.

[jlrx]

Those who sold their flats and camp on the beach are the ultimate goons of all.

I agree absolutely with this statement, especially the phrase "ultimate goon".

That's why I am preaching PROPERTISM Rule No. 1 - Properties should only be bought and not sold.

However, the "ultimate goon" is not the only goon around.

There are the "penultimate goons" who sold their condos and ended up in HDB, and the "antepenultimate goons" who sold their GCBs and ended up in suburban condos.

Here is the chart of "goons" I have prepared:

Good Class Bungalow
http://www.rainbowcottage.com.sg/PropertiesV2o/b5e07102-8517-46c3-b484-1ad30ce2b8891.jpg

antepenultimate goons
http://www.xyfosys.com/images/down-arrow.gif

Condominium
http://i2.propertyguru.com.sg/images/thumb/9/5/b/6/95b6751165676_1_V550.jpg

penultimate goons
http://www.xyfosys.com/images/down-arrow.gif

HDB
http://hammersphere.sg/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Queenstown_hdb-300x225_thumb100x100.jpg

ultimate goons
http://www.xyfosys.com/images/down-arrow.gif

Beach
http://www.wondericons.com/beach/myspace_beach_icons_13.gif

[WEC]

This is how I see it. I think this whole ppty hiking utimately will hurt most of the Singaporeans. Looking at it this way, the majority of HDB flat owner bought HDB for own stay. As such, albeit a few capable chaps, most of us are actually more likely to be HDB-ers for a very good part of life. Before the price hike, HDB appreciated gradually.. we all felt good about it but nothing fantastic to the extent that we would like to trade in our flat.. unless it is for a upgrade. Now that 2nd hand HDB was artifically pushed up ( by 1 deal or two) to a price that could be double/ triple/even quanruple from our purchase price due to the new immigrate policy ( basically the structure of the population mix has been changed during the last 5 years or so) .. we are now all rich on paper but stuck with what we have ( due to high replacement cost)... but could you leave where you stay now by topping up a few more grands like before ? About 4-5 years before, we all could move to a place that is nearby our desirable schools for our children without paying through our noses ( as the ptty price are low in general). Nowadays, all of these are out of reach. I could understand why the government decides to let so many new immigrants come to Singapore during the last 5 years, but then.. does she actually estimate what sort of impact will be on an average Singaporean.. and how much that will affect our next generation.. could our kids afford any housing like we do in our generation giving that current hike. Any thoughts has been spared for those that have been here for ages...

[Allthepies]

This is how I see it. I think this whole ppty hiking utimately will hurt most of the Singaporeans. Looking at it this way, the majority of HDB flat owner bought HDB for own stay. As such, albeit a few capable chaps, most of us are actually more likely to be HDB-ers for a very good part of life. Before the price hike, HDB appreciated gradually.. we all felt good about it but nothing fantastic to the extent that we would like to trade in our flat.. unless it is for a upgrade. Now that 2nd hand HDB was artifically pushed up ( by 1 deal or two) to a price that could be double/ triple/even quanruple from our purchase price due to the new immigrate policy ( basically the structure of the population mix has been changed during the last 5 years or so) .. we are now all rich on paper but stuck with what we have ( due to high replacement cost)... but could you leave where you stay now by topping up a few more grands like before ? About 4-5 years before, we all could move to a place that is nearby our desirable schools for our children without paying through our noses ( as the ptty price are low in general). Nowadays, all of these are out of reach. I could understand why the government decides to let so many new immigrants come to Singapore during the last 5 years, but then.. does she actually estimate what sort of impact will be on an average Singaporean.. and how much that will affect our next generation.. could our kids afford any housing like we do in our generation giving that current hike. Any thoughts has been spared for those that have been here for ages...

The policy has always been to make the rich grow richer; like raising productivity, building IR, attracting investments. Once the rich are satisfied, some of the excess will be "used" to help the poor; like giving rebates and subsidies here and there. No way is the policy going to take care of the average people first.

[WEC]

The reality is although on surface everybody gets richer, but deep down, the richer gets richer and the rest are actually worse off ( in terms of purchasing power). In fact, increase in salary would never be able to catch up with the increase in ppty given the ppty hike during the last few years.