HDB Or Condo

To Buy Or Not To Buy?
That Is Not The Question.

The Question Is What To Buy NOW?

I believe the penchant for property investments runs deep in the blood of most Asians.  This can be attested by the fact that all posts related to properties on Asing blogsite garners the highest traffic, and with the highest readership by country nationalities  - no prizes for guessing right where most readers are from - they are from Singapore, followed by Malaysia and then Taiwan and Hong Kong.  I was therefore also not surprised that the posts with the highest readership are:WHY SINGAPORE MALAYSIA & THAILAND and
SINGAPORE REAL ESTATE - REALLY?

The news today is certaining singing to the same tune - well may be just the facts from the news are backing up what I had been hawking -  that if you are thinking of buying your first home or making an investment for passive income, do your research and viewings now and then buy that home before things get stirred up into unreachable prices again.

I am not saying that the prices now are low - but at the very least the prices in Singapore are still about 10 to 20% lower than say those smaller units in Hong Kong.  And if you ask me, Singapore remains a high net worth destination to the rich, and hence the capital appreciation (and hence passive income) opportunity is always there. 

Remember my 3-Pronged Approach to having your passive income so that you can be more financially free - from the above link WHY SINGAPORE MALAYSIA & THAILAND - buying a property in Singapore is de rigueur if you are in working in Singapore now or have a fat bank account to buy an investment property.  Then make the property work for you while you move to a much cheaper living environment - like Malaysia.  Young and first time buyers, make use of the government subsidized HDB to make a good profit years later.  Condo seekers - location location location!  Any condo next to an MRT station is a investment GEM.



Click Photo For News Clip

I said above that news these few days had backed up my call for action if you are looking to buy.  Just look at the sky high HDB prices.  It is a sign that HDB flats are over bought and hence elicit a sense of over expectation from HDB owners in terms of their home value.  Therefore, buyers are now flocking back to the condominium scene - as can be seen by private property prices inching up since March.   

For sure there are naysayers - analysts from big name banks like UBS and overseas newssite such as CNBC - have played harbingers of bad news on Singapore property. I for one had never relied fully on their suppositions.  I had bought and sold 6 properties in Singapore.  Most of them were bought when the market was down - Gulf War, SARs, SubPrime crisis, etc.  I bought when everyone was waiting for the bottom.  And when the upswing came fast and furious, they still refuse to buy  citing "miss the opportunity of buying at the bottom".  Its best to believe in your own research and gut feeling, taking the analysts' opinions with a pinch (or ton) of salt - they are not interested in your early retirement plans - you are. And as Warren Buffet said, if they are such great analysts, they would not be sitting behind a desk! (Or something to that effect). 

So go Jalan Jalan and do your own research and buy when your gut feeling tells you THAT'S THE ONE - BE IT HDB OR CONDO!

USEFUL NEWS

Since publishing the above post, the HDB property market has indeed shown to be stirring, registering the highest resale figures for April2016 since 3 years ago! Click "highest" above for Straits Times May 5 report.

If you are buying HDB - why not look at Yishun & Jurong?

Jurong will be the next big thing - so the first mover gets the advantage.

HDB resale prices starting to fall due to owner's over expectation of their home value.

Woodlands, Pasir Ris & Toa Payoh to be rejuvenated.http://m.todayonline.com/singapore/rejuvenation-plans-pasir-ris-toa-payoh-and-woodlands-released