Look at ‘hard data’ before getting carried away by million dollar transactions:

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Look at 'hard data' before getting carried away by million dollar transactions: Desmond Lee

SINGAPORE – Housing Board flats will continue to remain affordable for all Singaporeans, with a strong pipeline of new flats in place and more units hitting the resale market in the coming years, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee has said.

These are among the efforts that the Government has taken to stabilise the public housing market over the last five years, after the pandemic disrupted the supply of flats and caused home prices to rise, said Mr Lee.

"(For) the resale market, through both cooling measures as well as significant supply, the market will stabilise. I would say that (when it comes to) housing issues, we haven't addressed everything, but we've addressed many issues that are of more pressing concern to Singaporeans," he said.

Mr Lee was speaking on The Straits Times' current affairs podcast The Usual Place with podcast host Natasha Ann Zachariah and ST journalist Isabelle Liew on March 18, where he addressed worries about housing affordability, a key concern among voters as Singapore gears up for a general election.

He said housing issues will always be "top of mind" for Singaporeans, but pointed to the progress that has been made since the start of this parliamentary term in 2020.

The pandemic had caused severe disruptions to the supply of Build-To-Order flats, he said.

HDB had planned to complete 20,000 flats in 2020 – all of which would have met their minimum occupation period (MOP) and could have been sold on the resale market by 2025 – but the pandemic disruptions meant less than half of those flats were completed.

This contributed to a tighter supply of flats in the market.

But efforts to ramp up construction have borne fruit – all 92 BTO projects that were delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic were completed in January 2025.

He added that the number of flats that will meet their MOP will go up over the next few years – from 8,000 flats in 2025, to 13,500 in 2026 and 19,500 units in 2028.

As for the supply of new flats, Mr Lee said HDB will launch more than 50,000 units from 2025 to 2027.

With these efforts to boost flat supply, and as cooling measures work their way through the market, the minister said he expects greater stability in housing prices going forward.

HDB had tightened loan limits for home buyers purchasing flats from August 2024, in the fourth round of property cooling measures since December 2021.

Mr Lee was also asked about resale flats that have transacted for over a million dollars, and how these transactions drive perceptions about unaffordability. In 2024, flats that sold for over a million dollars accounted for 3.6 per cent of resale transactions.

He said these flats, which because of their relative newness, better locations and attributes, have sold for over a million dollars and "captured the imagination".

But he urged Singaporeans to look at "the hard data", which showed that eight in 10 homebuyers who collected their keys in 2024 were able to service their HDB monthly mortgage entirely from CPF with little to no cash outlay.

"I think that is an indicator of how people have been able to find both BTO and resale flats that are affordable to them," he said.

He also cited the recently rolled out Prime, Plus and Standard flat classification model as another effort over the medium- to long-term to keep new BTO flats launched in more attractive locations affordable to Singaporeans of different income levels.

Prime and Plus flats, which are located closer to amenities such as MRT stations and town centres, will come with more subsidies but stricter resale conditions, such as a 10-year MOP and a subsidy clawback.

Standard flats, on the other hand, will not have a subsidy recovery clause when they are sold, and will come with a five-year MOP.

"The model ensures that Singapore remains egalitarian and has a good social mix in different parts (of the island), and ensures that our subsidy scheme remains fair in terms of allocation between those who are buying flats in more premium locations versus those in more standard locations," said Mr Lee.

But the minister also pointed out that the authorities had to balance desires for asset appreciation with concerns from Singaporeans who want housing to remain affordable.

It does so through injecting more supply through BTO flats, and managing resale prices through levers such as cooling measures, he said.

During the discussion, Mr Lee also brought up plans for the new Mount Pleasant BTO project that will be launched in October 2025.

The area for the new housing project includes the Old Police Academy, a site for which many retired police officers and national servicemen had strong emotions and memories, he said.

He added that planners had worked with heritage professionals to decide which buildings of the academy to conserve and engaged retired officers extensively in the redevelopment process.

He said the authorities will be sensitive to layers of history, heritage and memory as they continue to build new housing at different sites around the island.

"So you'll see new, beautiful housing (in Mount Pleasant). It will be affordable because it will be Prime or Plus, and yet, carry layers of heritage, so that people who used to train there will find something that can resonate with them when they come back to the estate," said Mr Lee.

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actually to resolve this issue, stop profiteering or introduce hard measures

disallow PRs from buying

simple?

i dont understand why we keep letting malaysians buy when they are only PRs. public housing is for PRs?

[BuiBuiForeverAlone]

actually to resolve this issue, stop profiteering or introduce hard measures

disallow PRs from buying

simple?

i dont understand why we keep letting malaysians buy when they are only PRs. public housing is for PRs?

This is to attract Malaysian Chinese, hoping one of them convert to new citizen. Actually, the govt is not as keen to attract Mainland Chinese to make up for Chinese quota.

[Arctic]

Jiao wei lah
3.6% ONLY

As long as dun exceed 50% means all is fine?

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This is to attract Malaysian Chinese, hoping one of them convert to new citizen. Actually, the govt is not as keen to attract Mainland Chinese to make up for Chinese quota.

i know also. but they dont want to introduce measures to force them to become citizens

then ask them to be PRs for what?

we have to think deeper of their underlying meaning. these are not stupid people. they purposefully craft the policies for certain outcomes

[BuiBuiForeverAlone]

i know also. but they dont want to introduce measures to force them to become citizens

then ask them to be PRs for what?

we have to think deeper of their underlying meaning. these are not stupid people. they purposefully craft the policies for certain outcomes

The policies are created clearly to tekan the working class  sg citizens. No much difference to our British colonial masters and the Japanese who invaded SG. The way i look at it, still the same style of governing residents of Singapore be it 1819, 1942, 1965 or 2025.

[Risa]

resale of hdb should never ever be allowed in the first place