TODAY, 19 Jan 2013
The supply of housing will catch up with “pent-up” demand in two to four years, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said yesterday.
Writing on his blog, Mr Khaw added that by 2016, some 200,000 housing units would have come on-stream: 80,000 private properties, 10,000 Executive Condominium units and about 110,000 public housing units.
“This is equivalent to the building of four new Ang Mo Kio towns by 2016! And we are still building more,” he said.
The Government has, in the past, repeatedly assured Singaporeans that there will be a large supply of new flats coming onstream.
Earlier this month, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) said it will launch at least 23,000 Build-to-Order (BTO) flats this year — or at least 3,000 more than its previous target.
Assuring that there are “enough homes for all”, Mr Khaw explained that the housing market is “temporarily not in balance because of under-building in the past and high investment demand today”.
On the property-cooling measures last week, Mr Khaw said these were necessary to soften the market, adding that they were “carefully formulated” to protect first-time home buyers.
And while investors buying additional properties may be “disappointed”, he said: “Many of the ... measures are counter-cyclical in nature, to be lifted when the market regains balance.”
Mr Khaw also advised those interested in buying property to study data on upcoming housing supply, available on the HDB and the Urban Redevelopment Authority websites.
He has also put up a chart on his Facebook page to give a visual representation of the upcoming housing supply, which will be updated with each Government Land Sales and BTO launch. Adding that prospective buyers should be prudent, Mr Khaw said: “Do bear in mind that the current low interest rate is unusual and the normal high interest rate will return in time to come.”
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