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To relieve the pressures on the resale market, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said that HDB will build more new and affordable flats for first-time homebuyers.
The Minister said he is committed to release more HDB flats for first-time buyers, after the HDB resale price index soared to new record highs, driving cash-over valuation (COV) to increase.
“What HDB is going to do is to build more new flats for first-timers, so this will help take care of the first-timer market, and that will help to reduce some pressure on the resale flat market. So over time, the resale flat market will stabilize. I think at this point in time, there is still an imbalance," he said.
He added that HDB is expected to release approximately 18,000 new flats this year, of which 16,000 flats will be released from the Build-To-Order (BTO) scheme.
Mr. Mah said that 95 percent of the new HDB flats will be allocated for first-time homebuyers, while only five percent will be set aside for second-timers. “It is the second-timers, upgraders and downgraders who have to go into the secondary resale flat market.”
“If you are a first-timer buyer, there's more than enough flats for you. But if you are a second-timer, obviously you have to compete in the market with the first-timers and others,” said Mr. Mah. “This equilibrium in the prices will be reached at some point in time in the medium term as we push out this supply. So I would expect in another year or so, it should be able to stabilize everything.”
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Reader Comments: (3 comments)
Why do first timers need to make so many attempts before securing a flat if supply is really sufficient?
first-time flat buyers will surely flock to get a unit. i just hope prices are still great value for money and that first-timers will benefit from this project...
Hope what the minister has said will happen as it will benefit both the first-time market and the resale market...