Tag Archives: Prices

I refer to the article “Private home prices rise 0.5% in Q3, ending nearly four years of decline: URA flash data” (Straits Times, Oct 2). It states that “Private property prices have officially turned a corner, ending 15 quarters of decline that began in October 2013. If you look at the above chart – you can see that the URA Private Residential Property Price Index only grew by about 5.5 per cent in the last 21 years or so, or just about an annualised return of only 0.25 per cent.

Singaporeans have been concerned about the recent announcement by Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong that the value of older HDB flats will decline and, eventually, be worth nothing at the end of their 99-year lease. To overcome this problem, the SDP has proposed the Non-Open Market (NOM) scheme for flats. Under this scheme, HDB will base flat prices solely on labour, materials and administrative costs. They will not contain a land cost component as State land does not cost the government any money.

I recently had the opportunity to observe 2 events at the Gardens by the Bay. Couple of months ago, I brought a class of students to the Singapore Garden Festival. Tonight, I went to the Winter Wonderland Showcase. In both examples I left feeling hollow with the empty consumerism that afflicts this prosperous nation.

In the past, I could find BUDGET and SUPER VALUE Bread, but they have since been taken off the shelf and are being replaced by more expensive breads !!

Prices of beverages at hawker centres, coffee shops and food courts have gone crazy. This ice Milo at a non-air conditioned Kopitiam hawker centre costs $1.90 now. That's it. I'm gonna get a water bottle and carry my own water from now on.

The price for Sembawang EastDelta@Canberra BTO 4-room HDB flats starts from $240,000. In the May 2013 BTO launch – Sembawang Eastbank, Eastbrook and Eastwave@Canberra were selling 4-room flats from $225,000. This is an increase in the lowest priced 4-room flats by 6.7 per cent ($240,000 divided by $225,000). Please explain 16.1 % price differential? If so, shouldn’t prices have fallen by about 9.4 per cent, instead of having increased by 6.7 per cent?

According to the TR Emeritus article “Khaw dismisses critics who feel housing is unaffordable” (Aug 22) – “For Sengkang, the situation is worse. 2-room flats are priced below ratio of 4, but 3-room and 4-room flats have ratios of 4.5 and 5.4 respectively. So, in fact, Sengkang 4-room BTO flats (ratio of 5.4) are considered unaffordable by the standards laid down by the World Bank and the United Nations.”

The latest BTO launch in May 2015 is selling Sembawang EastLink I & II @ Canberra 4-room flats from $238,000. In the May 2013 BTO launch – Sembawang Eastbank, Eastbrook and Eastwave@Canberra were selling 4-room flats from $225,000. This is an increase in the lowest priced 4-room flat by 5.8 per cent. But, the URA resale price index fell by about 5.5 per cent during the similar period. So, have BTO prices really been delinked from resale prices?

Home prices in Singapore will decline at a steeper pace, falling by 20 per cent between this year and 2016, as economic restructuring as well as property and loan curbs continue to weigh on the housing market, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) said in its research report released Tuesday (Sep 9). “Overly tight population policies will imply the dominance of ageing-resident demographics over the influx of younger non-resident workforce. Delays in relaxing property measures would imply a greater negative impact from rising mortgage rates,” said BAML economist Chua Hak Bin.

SBS Transit will raise fares for its non-basic bus services from Aug 3 (Sunday), after the Public Transport Council (PTC) gave the greenlight. In a statement on Friday (July 11), SBS said its non-basic bus services - Nite Owl, Parks, Chinatown, Direct and Premium - will have their fares revised from Aug 3. Senior citizen and student concession fares for some of the services will go up as well.