When Govt gives “grants” & allows CPF for housing payments does not mean 'affordable'

Confuseous

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HDB scored an own goal last week. I think they didn’t even know about it.

In its “rebuttal” last week, HDB claimed that the PropertyGuru report, “HDBs more unaffordable than private homes“, is misleading, as it is based on “a simplistic analysis of incomplete data“.

I find HDB’s own analysis also highly misleading, and shows how hyper-sensitive this Govt still is.

For one, HDB’s own analysis is based on direct flat sales in “non-mature” (ie ulu) estates and factors in “grants” and CPF contributions in an attempt to show that mortgage payments are below 30% of monthly income.

Clearly the above shows HDB flats– even direct from HDB– are unaffordable. If they were affordable, why would the Govt need to provide grants, and why would people have to pay out of their CPF savings?

So the fact is that

(1) New flats are unaffordable. That’s why the Govt has to give all kinds of grants, that’s why people have to forgo retirement savings to pay for their flats

(2) Resale flat prices are crazy. When a 5-room resale flat with 90 years left on its lease can command $800K or more, something is not right, although we do not claim it is solely HDB’s responsibility or HDB’s fault.



- http://politicalwritings.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/hdb-doesnt-get-it/
 
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