Finding Houses in Singapore

Recently, the Straits Times reported that the population declined in Singapore. There is a a 4.1 per cent drop in overall population. The non-resident population fell by 10.7 per cent to 1.47 million, Singapore's citizen population also decreased by 0.7 per cent to 3.5 million, while the permanent resident (PR) population fell by 6.2 per cent to 0.49 million. The news point out that the main reason of the fall is due to the covid pandemic and the travel restrictions that are in place.  Some have said that such fall is worrying, with the falling number of foreigners, will it affect the talent pool in Singapore, the economy as well as the property market in Singapore? Well I guess it might affect the talent pool in Singapore, but this could be temporary given that Singapore is opening up, and travel restrictions are slowly easing. But besides this point, we need to note that more are working from home and working remotely. Many businesses have reduced the need for office space. For

 This is the first book written by Vina Ip, the blogger behind the popular property blog Property Soul .  I have written review for her second book, Behind the scenes of the property market : finding the truths and exposing the lies of a not-so-transparent industry . This first book is quite different from her second book, which of course I find it more informative, but the statistics given in her book are already some time back, and the newer numbers are more relevant in her second book, which was recently published in 2020.  This book published in 2014 shows you an introduction of the property scene in Singapore.  The book consists of a total of 11 Chapters.  The first Chapter is about Building wealth through property - and it lists reasons of why people would buy property, be it for living, investment, passive income etc or a combination of both. Based on the different reasons, it would influence your property decisions, which the author will show you how and the steps to take. Thi

This is the second book from Vina Ip, the popular blogger of Property Soul , that listed her property investing experiences. Her first book "No B.S. Guide to Property Investment" is a popular book that offers an alternative view on the property market in Singapore.  In it she points out what to look out for when buying new properties, which is a handy guide especially for first time buyers. In this new book, Vina Ip shows on what is going on behind the scenes of property market.  As of the point of writing, there are already 99 reservations at NLB board.  Published in 2020, this book is very popular. This book consists of 5 main chapters 1. How to lose money in properties This chapter shows the common ways that people lose money after buying properties. It gives you the knowledge of these common ways so that you will not repeat the same mistakes when you buy properties.  2. Lies, Lies and more lies This chapter shows the common tricks, lies and tactics used by property agents

Dual key condo unit is an apartment with two living spaces. Which means in one apartment, you can have two sub-units with two families living in it. Behind the main front door, there are two doors leading to each sub-unit.  As you can see blow: The above is the dual key unit of Parc Clematis. It has one main front door, and then after that it is further divided into two doors, of each "unit". The above is the two bedroom dual key, which one is a studio (when you open the door you get to see the bed), while the other has a one bedroom.   There are also three bedroom available, depending on the development itself.  The above shows the 3 bedroom dual key in Parc Clematis, where one side is a studio, and the other side has a 2 bedroom. Depending on your needs, some prefer a two bedroom dual key, some prefer a three bedroom dual key, and others do not prefer dual key at all.  Why do people get a dual key condo? Dual key is rare and it offers the owner the privacy and flexibility o

 Recently, news reported on the delays in BTO and BUC projects due to Covid-19, over in TodayOnline and Straits Times .  While these has caused many to worry as they have to wait later for their houses, it would also mean that the supply of houses will remain low, assuming demand for houses increase as more get married and start their family each year.  What would it possibly mean? (1) Some would turn to resale, which they can get their houses without waiting, but might inadvertently drive the prices of resale houses up. With resale prices driven up, it would slowly drive the prices of new launches up too, as they are usually more expensive than resale, given the longer leases remaining.  (2) Some might rent a house while waiting for their house to be built. This would also mean an increase in demand for rented houses (which is a good thing as previously many foreigners left Singapore and fewer came to Singapore as a result of Covid-19, and demand of rented houses decreased), while it

Yesterday there was an article in the  Straits Times on the increasing resale prices of HDB flats.  And there are warnings on the potential increase of interest rates that might increase strain on buyers servicing their mortgage loans.  So is it still a good time to buy houses now? The question is why is demand increasing ? (1) Due to the work from home initiative, many realized the need for more personal and spaces. Many crave for a personal space for their own, and started to look for houses.  (2) With the current low interest rates, many are taking advantage of it and buying property.  (3) Some are taking advantage of the current prices of property market, in anticipation of high property and higher rental yields when international travel become possible in future and more foreigners come to Singapore.  Let's talk about Supply: Due to small land size of Singapore, there are always constraints on the land space and the land used to be built for houses. While the government and p

Telegram is gaining popularity and is a good way of getting news right away.  Here are some useful telegram channels about the property news/scene that might help you in your purchase of your next house. 1.  SingaporeHDB - HDB's official telegram channel to push HDB related news and announcement to you real time.  2. Ku Swee Yong Telegram channel - Telegram by well known Property advisor who shares his views and outlook of the property scene. Good to hear his views and what to look out for before you make the next purchase.  3. Propnex Property News Broadcast - This is the telegram channel by Propnex that pushes daily property news to you. 4. The Business Times - This is the official Business Times Telegram channel that will share business times news to you. However you have to be a subscriber to read some of the premium news. 

 Here are some of the links that are useful and can be bookmarked: 1. Developers Sales  - this website shows all the new launch condos that are on sale right now. You can see the price lists as well as the virtual 360 degrees view of the condo without being at the showroom. Floor plans and details of the condo are also available there.  2. URA Private property transactions - this website shows all the transactions by a particular condo. You can roughly gauge the price to buy or sell from the prices listed here.  3. Edge Prop - from this website, you can check out the price trends of a particular condo, whether it is going up or down. You can also see the profitable/unprofitable transactions which would be important should you buy the condo for investment. You can also see the rental transactions in the condo and rent in nearby properties which might be your competitors.  4. SquareFoot - you can also find the price trends and transaction details of a condo here, as well as follow the

 Recently, The Business Times published this chart on 16 March 2020 comparing the affordability of different types of housing over the years.  Source: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/in-a-covid-year-new-condos-price-income-ratio-widens  Affordability is calculated based on the property median prices for each of the property types, divided by median annual household income. On the left is the implied number of years one household have to save to buy a 1000 sq property. From this chart you can see that the prices of new sales/launches of non-landed private have been going up steadily, it is the steepest of all.  On the other hand the prices of resale non-private have been going up my a small margin of 0.1 from 2019 to 2020. For prices of resale HDB, it has also went up from 2019-2020.  What does this article tell us? It gives a overview on the disparity of prices between new launch non-landed private as well as resale non-landed private. This is important if you are looking

Is it good to invest in a HDB? Recently there are many million HDBs sold.. -> https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/13-hdb-resale-flats-sold-for-at-least-1m-in-jan-prices-rise-for-7th-straight-month Is it a good investment? Taken from data.gov.sg, we see that the number of flats sold is decreasing since 2017, after reaching its peak. The number of flats for rent is about the same.  This is the resale price of HDB flats, as we can see, the price increased at of 2020 Q4. Despite the covid situation and the weak SG stock market, the price of HDB flats continue to increase.  Number of rental houses do not seem to show any signs of decrease.  According to these graphs, there seems to be good chance that you can sell away your HDB for a profit in the future, given that there is large number of lease years left in the HDB as there is a tighter restrictions for buyers to buy HDB with leases less than 50 years.  Even if you now is not the right time to sell the flat at a profit, you

 Here's the Straits Times Index ETF from 2008. Here is the price chart of the Straits Times Index (STI) ETF (ES3), which tracks the performance of the Straits Times Index taken from yahoo finance. As you can see, if you entered and bought some STI ETF in the year 2010 at around 3.02, 10 years later in year 2020, you might incur a loss as the average price of 2020 is around 2.744. Hopefully the dividends earned from the ETF which yield is around 3-4% per year will help to cover the losses.  Let's compare it with the Price Index chart for HDB and Non Landed Private Housing. The trend of the price index of STI and Non Landed Private Housing looks similar, up to 2020, where we see the tanking of the STI while the prices of houses did not fall as much.  There are probably several reasons for this.   The covid that happened in 2020 has changed the lifestyle for many. During the circuit breaker, students have to learn from home while office workers work from home. Many realised they r