SINGAPORE: The hot-button issue leading up to the next General Election may just be housing affordability, some industry experts have been quoted as saying recently.
As property has gotten more expensive in Singapore over the past two years, this may become an important touchpoint for the People’s Action Party, the South China Morning Post reported on Sunday (Aug 25).
The cooling measures announced last week may be a reflection of this, SCMP added. In a joint media release, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the Ministry of National Development (MND) said loan limits would be tightened.
From Aug 20, 2024, the maximum loan-to-value limit for HDB loans was reduced from 80 per cent to 75 per cent.
National Development Minister Desmond Lee said the measure was meant to encourage more prudent borrowing and dampen the demand in the higher-end resale market.
He added, however, that this would not impact most HDB housing loan takers, as nearly nine in ten home buyers borrow at LTV ratios of 75 per cent or less.
Nevertheless, high property prices, as well as perhaps increased living costs in general, are causing some degree of uncertainty and dissatisfaction.
SCMP quoted Singapore Management University Eugene Tan as saying:
“The angst, anxiety and anger that we are witnessing will be further stoked when the general election comes around. It will be part of the narrative that Singapore has become less egalitarian, more expensive, increasingly elitist.”
The report also quoted Nydia Ngiow, managing director for Singapore at strategic advisory firm BowerGroupAsia, as saying that the cooling measures may be seen as “too little, too late” because of the “disproportionate media attention paid to outlier property prices” that have led Singaporeans to feel priced out of the property market.
Singapore’s public housing policy is a cornerstone for the government and has caught the attention, even recently, of other nations. Earlier this month, the city-state’s 90 per cent homeownership rate was the subject of two recent pieces in Australian and United States media.
A recent survey has shown that homeownership is something that a majority of Gen Z Singaporeans consider important.
However, since property prices have shot up over the past few years, some parents have wondered if their offspring will still be able to afford to buy their own homes. /TISG
Read also: Survey shows many young Singaporeans still aspire to own a home