Old but Gold – Older Flats in Demand Again

After the authories have announced the extended usage of Central Provident Fund (CPF) for HDB buyers, old flats are in demand again. In recent times, there was a fall in the price of older flats. But the reformulated CPF rules have made it possible for a large number of people to buy the older flats. After the relaxed CPF rules, the sale of older flats increased by 18.3 percent whereas, in March and April of 2018, the sale increased only by 4.6 percent. If one has to give numbers, about 1783 flats that are 30 years older have been sold during May and June of this year whereas the number was 1507 in the last year.

 

Christine Sun, the Head of Research and Consultancy at the Orange Tee and Tie, a Property Agency of repute is of the opinion that although the sale of old flats see a raise in the second part of the year, this time, Central Provident Fund rules also must have played an essential part in the raise. Due to the provident fund’s relaxed rules, these flats are getting a larger amount of loans for buying older flats. However, the analysts say that although the new rules will encourage more people to buy older flats, it might also ward off young buyers to buy flats with lease for such a long time. Lease is a huge problem for flat buyers. After the National Development Minister Lawrence Wong’s warning about the old HDB flats, people became more cautious about buying these flats. In August 2018, after the Government’s announcement of Voluntary Early Redevelopment Skill, the flat buyers aged over 70 could sell their flats to the Government. However, this has to see a long way before it is properly appropriated.

 

However, the change in rules has definitely made the buyers more interested in buying old and large flats this year. Susan Mariam reports that the commissions that she and her husband received from selling old HDB flats exceeded $120,000. She also adds that this is the first time she has experienced this rise in her career spanning twenty year. The resale of four room flats those are older than forty years old saw a hike in price of about 53.5 percent whereas, the price for five room flats hiked for 54.4percent. Flats that were comparatively new, on the other hand, experienced a drop in price. The price for five room flats that are ten to thirty years old for 15 percent and for three room flats, the price drop is by 4.4 percent.

 

On the obverse, the sale of flats that are under ten years has experienced a rise. Christine Sun explains that this situation is the result of raise in demand that is increasing by the day.

 

However, this only proves that old is gold. After all, real estate is something that is an asset of a lifetime. Nobody wants to miss an opportunity to grab an estate of her own.

 

 

learn more from the link below

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/older-flats-in-demand-after-cpf-rule-change-says-realtor

 

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