HOW SINGAPORE BUILDS COMMUNITIES IN THE SKY

[Strong Eagle]

An interesting read about HDB from the local birdcage liner.

https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia ... index.html?

[jalanjalan]

"Public housing is a work in progress, says Mr Soh. “What’s most interesting to me about the HDB is that it's constantly trying to improve how public housing is built, lived in and used by people.”"

I agree with this.. in my neighbourhood the design of the blocks has improved with each new development. I'm jealous of their gorgeous roof gardens, mini parks and void deck lounge areas. Interiors of the flats are probably a bit smaller though.

[NYY1]

"Public housing is a work in progress, says Mr Soh. “What’s most interesting to me about the HDB is that it's constantly trying to improve how public housing is built, lived in and used by people.”"

I agree with this.. in my neighbourhood the design of the blocks has improved with each new development. I'm jealous of their gorgeous roof gardens, mini parks and void deck lounge areas. Interiors of the flats are probably a bit smaller though.

The new BTOs are pretty much the same layout as most mass market condos these days.
-2 BR / 3 room around 700 sq ft
-3 BR / 4 room around 1,000 sq ft (the condos probably range from 900 - 1,100 sq ft depending on the standard, + study, premium, etc options)
-5 room or around 1,200 sq ft is somewhere between a very large 3 BR or small 4 BR condo.

The BTOs often have better bathroom and kitchen ventilation (not all of the 2 BR and 3 BR condos do) and storage space, although they typically don't have a balcony and lack facilities. The demographics are also different.

[malcontent]

From the article, the “back to basics” BTO design was the section that gave me some hope that HDB is sticking to their mandate. Having lived almost my entire adult life in Singapore, I especially feel for young adults who can’t afford housing, much the way I couldn’t when I first started out here… and almost 3 decades later, I am still house poor and feeling the pinch. I think HDB needs to focus on innovation that brings cost down even further, maybe they could look at techniques used here:

https://homeandtexture.com/elon-musk-tiny-home/

[Pal]

New HDB flats are getting too unaffordable. If they continue to price the land based on their formula (when they transfer between 2 Gov boards, SLA and HDB), it will never be cheaper.

[NYY1]

People need to understand the difference between a global population centre and a second/third tier city in a country with a lot of land. While innovation is good and all efforts should be made to bring down costs, housing is never going to be cheap in these places. Prime or above average housing is going to be even more costly. These cities have a concentration of exceptionally high paying jobs and there is a constant supply of people that are willing to work extraodinarily hard. These cities aren't places for work life balance and coasting once you hit a certain age (one can certainly survive or adjust his/her standards, but the treadmill will never stop moving a bit quicker).

While I don't expect Singapore to match some of the areas in larger countries, the landscape is looking more and more like the centres/hubs elsewhere. People that have never worked in those settings or came here a long time ago may not have a full appreciation as to what things are like in these cities.

[malcontent]

New HDB flats are getting too unaffordable. If they continue to price the land based on their formula (when they transfer between 2 Gov boards, SLA and HDB), it will never be cheaper.

Yes, when you do the math on how much all of the units in an HDB block are sold for versus the cost of building the bare units, there is a lot being paid to align with current market prices. When I first realized this, it was a little off-putting. From a purely economic standpoint, it makes sense - but it’s not doing anyone any favors.

That said, if my kids were citizens, I would encourage them to get a BTO as soon as eligible, stay in it for 5 years, then get another one. You only get two opportunities in a lifetime — better take them. At the same time, top-up CPF each year, max out SRS, and DCA whatever else they can spare into low cost, broadly diversified index ETFs, with the goal of reaching FIRE (Financial Independence, Remain Employed) as soon as possible.

[NYY1]

I'm not sure you can look at just the "building" cost of the units. Some of the land was likely undeveloped and it took some money to build the required infrastructure on/around the area. On a psf basis, the land cost is still very low (relatively speaking), although I don't know what the cost is like when looking at the actual square footage of the plot and not by psf.

Either way, the more central locations are certainly paying something for the location, although the resale value is also higher.

Anyways, one can look at the payments on a BTO; not all are particularly high (relative to incomes). You can also compare the change in prices/payments to the change in income over time.

To me, the larger constraint is BTO eligibility (on multiple dimensions).