{"id":28957,"date":"2019-08-29T11:59:03","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T03:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.99.co\/blog\/singapore\/?p=28957"},"modified":"2022-06-13T17:23:59","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T09:23:59","slug":"singaporeans-have-a-new-issue-to-fight-about-greater-southern-waterfront-flats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.99.co\/singapore\/insider\/singaporeans-have-a-new-issue-to-fight-about-greater-southern-waterfront-flats\/","title":{"rendered":"Singaporeans Have a New Issue to Fight About: Greater Southern Waterfront Flats"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There’s been too much attention diverted to Hong Kong. Heck, it’s been weeks<\/em> since Singaporeans have accused each other of questionable parentage over each other’s opinion on CPF, GST, housing, etc. But with the Greater Southern Waterfront (GSW) now underway, Singaporeans can once again fight the great FB comment wars:<\/p>\n

The “lottery effect” and GSW Public Housing<\/h3>\n
\"greater
Singaporeans: live on an island surrounded by water, but will pay more for a swimming pool<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HDB balloting exercises are like a lottery, except the first prize is 25 years of mortgage payments and not having enough room. Singaporeans get pretty cranky about it, so it gets worse when there’s perceived unfairness.<\/p>\n

This first surfaced with The Pinnacle@Duxton<\/a> – this HDB development (it’s not a DBSS<\/a> by the way) had a launch price of about $345,000 to $439,000, back in 2004 (for five-room units). Today, the average price of the five-room flats here is in the range of $943,000; some units have also transacted above the million dollar mark.<\/p>\n

This started the conversation about “the lottery effect”. Singaporeans who manage to get public housing in highly desirable areas are getting a big financial advantage, over those who don’t.<\/p>\n

The next lot of private housing with this issue will be the ones situated in the Great Southern Waterfront (GSW). This is a 30 kilometer strip of seafront housing, that includes prime real estate for private and <\/em>public housing. It starts on the site of the current Keppel Golf Club – when the club’s lease expires in December 2021, the land will hold about 9,000 residential units.<\/p>\n

Why are we going to fight about this?<\/h3>\n
\"Angry
“Successfully balloted for a GSW flat is NOT a career achievement.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a basic level, it runs contrary to the “meritocracy” argument we love so much. If someone makes a ton of cash because they balloted and got a flat on the Keppel Club site, they wouldn’t have contributed anything for their fortune – they’ll get money from that flat, not from starting a business that provided employment, innovating and building a great product, etc.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t help that they would have bought the flat with subsidies. And since we have no capital gains or inheritance tax, they’re not going to give back much, when they sell their million-dollar flat.<\/p>\n

Also, HDB properties are meant to provide affordable housing, not be investment vehicles. But it’s kind of hard to maintain that claim, if some flat owners can sell for a bigger profit margin than even a private property investor can get. Many supposed “genuine home buyers” will make a grab for the flats not because they want the area as a home, but because it’s a free upgrade to a condo after the MOP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What can we do about it?<\/h3>\n

A number of solutions have been proposed from many quarters; we’ve heard the following from analysts, real estate agents, long time investors, etc:<\/p>\n