A new approach to pricing HDB flats
March 11th, 2023 | 
Author: 
1. I read a news report that many applicants did not take up the offer of a new HDB flat (also called BTO flat) because they were unsure about the market condition in a few years time, when the flats were ready. Would the market price drop due to recession, loss of job or high mortgage payments (caused by higher interest rate?
2. It is a bad system when ordinary people have to speculate on future housing prices and make decisions on timing the housing market.
3. I suggest a better system. The government should manage the prices of HDB flats, so that the buyers are confident that the prices will remain stable and affordable.
4. This can be achieved using this approach:
a) The government set set the HDB prices at a level that matches the median income of a working family.
b) HDB should offer various sizes of flats and locations to meet the needs of applications at different income segments. The higher income can apply for a larger flat or a better location. The lower income can apply for a smaller flat at a remote location (but still accessible by public transport).
c) The prices should be adjusted each year to match the changes in the median income level.
5. Using this approach, there is no need to have a complicated system of housing grants and subsidies that differ according to many factors. The current grants and subsidies are incomprehensible and quite arbitrary.
6. The government has a monopoly of the land used to build HDB flats. They can adjust the release of land to match the housing demand of the population. By matching supply to demand, they can “control” the price of the land (which represents half of the total cost) to match the income level.
7. At present, the government (or HDB) appears to use the market price to determine the price of land that is sold to HDB. When the land price is too high (and the HDB flats are too high), the government has to “tinker” with the grants and subsidies to make the flats “affordable”. This is complicated and confusing and produces uncertainty.
8. If the government sets the price of land according to the framework that I suggested, the price of HDB flats will remain affordable, and there is no need for grants and subsidies.
9. The construction cost may be volatile, and may affect the prices of the HDB flats. I envisage that the government may have to provide subsidies on the construction cost, if the cost of materials and labor escalate due to shortages and inflation. A better approach is to award the construction contracts during an economic slowdown, when the prices are lower. This may result in completed flats being left vacant for a few years, but the actual cost of the vacant flats is quite small.
10. If the prices of HDB flats can be kept stable, it becomes easier for applicants to decide on the type, location and timing of the flats to meet the needs of their family. They do not need to worry about the uncertainty of the housing market.
Tan Kin Lian
Posted in 
New approach or not,the G has the duty of bringing down HDB prices to more decent levels.
Non-citizen owners of HDB must be stopped from causing price disorderline$$ at once.
I suggest to bar non-sgs from buying HDB.
Current owners must only sell to sgs.
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no need to speculate.
all potential buyers, their families, their friends, all of them vote PSP WP into power, then, for sure HDB prepaid rental prices shall be much lower.
why speculate at all?
if vote pap, buy now since pap prices only goes up and up and up.
if vote PSP WP, then, don’t buy now. buy after GE when PSP WP are the New Government.
sinkies have a choice. they pay high prices if they vote pap. they pay much lower prices if they vote PSP WP.
do note the prices for HDB units are nothing but prepaid rents. only stupid people want to pay high rents when the option to pay much lower rents exist.
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Need to lower the HDB price now…soft landing .OK to suffer some loss now.
If not,nature will do so in future and it will be very painful for all.
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Here’s the best solution stop making us pay for land we don’t own. Just vhargecthe fraction of the land the apartment actually occupies.that alone would make housing immediately affordable. Also stop this unsustainable and unethical 40 year lifespan of HDBs.build them for centuries and give people the right to pass it on to their heirs.
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I got better idea. All citizens over 50 years of age get free housing.
After all we worked here long time
.
Prevent brain drain.
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As long as PAP are in charge we won’t have too many changes to the housing policy since we all know that they want to make as much $$$ as possible with every BTO launch. You want flat prices to come down then force PAP into a coalition government since there is absolutely no way in hell that PAP will become an opposition party overnight.
They will continue to add in land cost no matter what we say and also never, ever reveal the cost of ANY BTO built since that would just invite more uncomfortable questions from Mun Wai.
This housing isse has been around for years liao, do you see PAP doing anything to even make it affordable? Nope, they just do the complete opposite of what we want.
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