Limited financial capacity and difficulty securing bank loans are a few challenges Singapore youths face when buying a Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat.
The Independent Singapore reached out to a couple of young individuals to get their opinions on their difficulties when buying an HDB flat.
One said that they needed to have a good job with a high-paying salary because the standard of living in the country was “getting higher and higher and higher”.
“So the standard is around S$3,000 and above. Plus, when you get a house, there are a lot of things to think about aside from the house payment, such as utilities and transportation,” she noted.
“If you want to own HDB, study very, very, very hard. You need that,” she added.
Another individual agreed that financial capacity was the main issue.
“Not a lot of us have a lot of cash, cause for guys, we just come out of the army, so we don’t have a lot of funds at the moment.”
“That’s one of the main challenges we have at the moment for my generation,” he noted.
He also admitted it was harder to get a bank loan due to the lack of high income, as they hadn’t worked for very long.
“We can’t get a good enough loan to get the house that we want because most of us are looking for BTO (build to order) in the new HDB (areas).”
Furthermore, HDB resale prices are also increasing, he added.
Meanwhile, another respondent said that buying an HDB was possible and can be affordable with proper planning.
“I think that a lot of people don’t really know the procedures or steps to really buy an HDB flat, such as BTO.”
He said buyers need to calculate, check and research on the HDB website for insights into creating their own financial plans.
“A lot of people think they need a lot of cash… around S$40,000,” but not in all cases. “Your CPF is important,” he added.
“If you want to buy a resale, that’s even better still lah. S$15,000 to S$20,000 will be a safe amount of money.”
He explained that with proper planning, such as considering one’s income, family setting and background, buying an HDB will be affordable.
PropertyGuru reported that young Singaporeans today opt to rent a home instead of buying one due to the lack of savings, high costs, and lack of cheaper options.
Flexibility to transfer, quick move-in process, simpler paperwork, and minimal maintenance are also a few reasons why they choose to rent instead of buy. /TISG
HDB flats originally bought for $500,000 are now being sold twice the price