Proportion of HDB flats in housing market falls 5 percentage points from 2006 to 2016
The ratio of public to private properties has gone down in the last decade, and is expected to slide further by 2020, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — The proportion of private properties in the housing market has gone up in the last decade, and is expected to rise further, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong in Parliament on Monday (May 8).
Responding to a question by Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Gan Thiam Poh, Mr Wong said that the proportion has gone up from 22 per cent to 27 per cent between 2006 and last year. This is expected to inch up to 28 per cent by 2020.
Nevertheless, despite the growing proportion of private properties, about 80 per cent of the population still live in Housing and Development Board flats, Mr Wong said.
Between 2006 and last year, the number of HDB flats increased from 880,000 to about a million units, while the number of private properties went up from 243,000 to 372,000 units over the same period.
Property analysts whom TODAY spoke to noted the proliferation in recent years of smaller units in the private property market, including “shoebox” apartments which are relatively more affordable. Such a trend is in response to buyers’ demand,
said ERA key executive officer Eugene Lim.
Both Mr Lim and International Property Advisor key executive officer Ku Swee Yong pointed out that the Government has slowed the supply of Build-to-Order (BTO) flats, after clearing the backlog of demand from first-timers. Since 2014, the BTO supply has been gradually tapered and Mr Wong said last year that the Government would ensure a “healthy pipeline” to meet demand.
While the rate of increase in the number of private properties has outstripped that of public flats, the fact that HDB dwellers can own multiple properties may have kept the proportion of those living in public flats stable, Mr Lim said.
Agreeing, Suntec Real Estate Consultants research and consultancy manager Caroline Koh noted that HDB homeowners can still purchase a second, or third property, which “drives demand for private property” alongside interest from foreign investors.
Meanwhile, Senior Minister of State for National Development Koh Poh Koon also said in Parliament that over the past decade, about 3,000 households on average a year were successful in requesting for rental flats. Out of the one million HDB flats in total, about 56,000 are rental units. Mr Koh was responding to Mr Gan’s question on rental flat applications.
He added that among the successful applicants, about 400 households cancel their request a year, on average, over the past decade. A possible reason could be because they had found other means of accommodation, Mr Koh said. About 1,600 households whose applications were successful have returned their flats to the HDB, and are living in their public flats which they own.
Mr Wong also provided statistics on the proportion of BTO buyers who were invited to collect their keys and had asked for a deferment, due to difficulties in selling their previous property. For the whole of last year and the first quarter of this year, the proportion was 2 per cent, he said.
While there has not been an increase in the proportion over the years, Mr Wong said a minority of these buyers end up cancelling their flat bookings, opting instead to pay the forfeiture fee and continue living in their existing flats.
Mr Wong urged flat buyers to “exercise prudence in their flat purchase”, taking into account potential change in market conditions, and being realistic in their asking prices.
