The casual real estate observer must be left wondering about the government’s intentions when not one, but two, ministers sounded out warnings about the property market on 18 January 2020. Speaking at the Building and Construction Authority-Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (REDAS) Built Environment and Property Prospects Seminar 2021, National Development Minister Desmond Lee…

Earlier in January, the exclusive Sentosa Cove residential enclave made headlines when its waterways turned pink. The mass fish deaths and “rotten stench” that accompanied the pink water phenomenon also caused much distress for residents, with some speculating that the incident might have been caused by a sewage leak. Heavy rainfall likely triggered chain reaction…

A lot of Singaporeans think of their house as a retirement plan. Come the age of 65, when we walk out of the office for the last time, we’ll need some sort of income. If the plan is to look at the house, then it’s logical to ponder which type is the real money maker….

The Housing Board has launched the new HDB Flat Portal, which is a combination of the existing portal and a new interface that includes calculators and guides specifically targeted at flat buyers. The new portal also has a revamped user interface, but the most significant change is how HDB now displays the home loan rates…

One of the worst things that can happen to landed and ground floor homeowners in Singapore’s housing estates is to fall victim to a flash flood. The thing is, despite having a well-planned drainage system, floods in Singapore are still actually relatively common during the rainy season, and some housing estates are more flood prone…

The high-profile bungalow of Madam Chung Khin Chun—the victim of convicted swindler Yang Yin—at 2F Gerald Crescent has been put up for auction again for $25 million (about $785 per square foot). This is $10 million below the $35 million asking price for the bungalow in an unsuccessful first attempt in 2018. Currently managed by…

Most people know that when an application for a Build-to-Order (BTO) or a Sale of Balance Flat (SBF) is submitted, it goes to a ballot to determine a queue number. But, depending on whether you’re a first-timer or a second-timer, it might be more difficult for you to get a flat because of HDB’s predefined…

Despite how Singaporeans like to refer to HDB flat locations as “mature” or “non-mature” like they’re some kind of cheese, HDB’s own classification of non-mature estates and mature estates is surprisingly unclear. In fact, the Housing Board does not give an exact definition of non-mature estates and mature estates, and the only time these terms…

Led by a spike in prices of city fringe and suburban private non-landed homes in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and Outside Central Region (OCR), condo prices in Singapore hit a new all-time high in the last quarter of 2020, according to URA Flash Estimates released on 4 January 2021. Overall, condo prices rose…

A horde of Singaporeans wanting to ring in 2021 from a high vantage point flocked to the rooftop gardens of the million-dollar SkyVille and SkyTerrace @ Dawson HDB projects on New Year’s Eve, causing massive inconvenience to residents. Complaints by the residents on the community Facebook page ‘Dawson SkyVille SkyTerrace’ revealed the extent of the…