Small investment in HDB property

[SGPR]

Hi

Im a Singapore PR resident in HK. I have some CPF accumulated in Sg and wanted to use it by investing in property. I havent lived in Sg in the past 6 yrs so am out of touch with the market there. Given that this is just an investment I am looking for a 2 room HDB that I can get relatively cheaply and rent relatively quickly. Thats the vague idea anyway. I wanted to know

1) Is it possible to buy a 2 room HDB within SGD 200K? I went to a few websites and found that the prices ranged from 160K to 400K but not many flats were listed for sale. It seems like supply is severely constrained in Singapore.

2) The situation in Singapore is very different from when i was last living there. The property prices have gone through the roof. Has it corrected substantially in the past 6 months and is there a further downward trend expected?

Your inputs are greatly appreciated.

[Saint]

Are you sure you are still a Singapore PR? You might want to check that first.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I was going to ask the same question!

[SGPR]

Thanks for your interest. I can confirm that i am still a PR coz i got it renewed this year for another 5 yrs. Also my wife got her dependent PR as well yesterday. I continue to make CPF contributions and receive salary and pay tax in Singapore.

[sundaymorningstaple]

The private housing/condo market is moving somewhat downwards but there is only minor movement so far in the HDB market. Two room flats are scarce both you should be able to find 3 room flats in that range. (You might be confusing the two) A 3 Room Flat has two bedrooms, hall & kitchen. This is probably what you are looking at given the price range you indicated. The following may help:

Median Resale Prices by Town and Flat Type

[durain]

i thought the whole concept of HDB is to provide affortable housing for people living in singapore and not as an investment especially if the landlord is not living in singapore.

[Saint]

i thought the whole concept of HDB is to provide affortable housing for people living in singapore and not as an investment especially if the landlord is not living in singapore.

A lot of locals, including quite a few friends of ours, are buying new buys purely for investment purposes. They don't even live in the HDBs or only stay couple of weekends a month as they live with one of the parents. All they've got to do is wait for 5 years then sell it for a handsome profit. I've had many an "interesting" discussion with them on this!!

[GarethC]

i thought the whole concept of HDB is to provide affortable housing for people living in singapore and not as an investment especially if the landlord is not living in singapore.

I think if he buys an HDB in the resale market, he only needs to stay in it for one year before being elligible to apply for a permit to rent out the property. (Best check the HDB website for more details)

You are right Saint, I know a few people who bought an HDB as a second property to rent out, only to sell it off for a tidy profit once the next property bubble forms