By: puyi
Today (2:43 am) Yahoo! Profile:
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Thu, Nov 05, 2009
AsiaOne
At the Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore (REDAS) 50th anniversary dinner tonight, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said housing board flats will remain the foundation of Singapore's home ownership scheme.
This is in line with his vision for Singapore: 'A Distinctive City, A Harmonious Home'.
"The Government will continue to ensure that public housing remains affordable to the vast majority of Singaporeans. The current household income ceiling of $8,000 means that about eight in ten Singaporean families are eligible for HDB subsidies. We will also continue to factor in the increasing demand from Permanent Residents in the resale market," he said.
SM Goh said: "For those who are worried over the recent price increases, MND tells me that there is adequate supply of homes in the pipeline both in the central region as well as outside it. The Government is also committed to releasing more land through the Government Land Sales Programme to ensure that property prices do not fall out of sync with economic fundamentals."
For businesses, we must be able to offer two things. First, we will keep our rentals competitive compared to key financial hubs like Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, and New York.
Second, our city must be able to offer not just Grade A offices in the Central Business District but also cheaper office solutions at the fringe of the city centre. This will give companies greater flexibility and cater to their different business needs." |
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By: puyi
Today (2:33 am) Yahoo! Profile:
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By Hoe Yeen Nie & Jeremy Koh,
Channel NewsAsia | 07 November 2009
SINGAPORE: National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan on Saturday repeated his assurance that there is an ample supply of housing in the market.
This comes a day after the government announced it was offering more residential sites for sale next year.
Along with another 60,000 units in the pipeline, the government says there is no shortage of new homes.
Mr Mah said: "It's hard for me to predict what prices will be like, but what I do know is that there is ample supply so therefore there is really no reason for there to be a rush, a panic to buy. And that in itself will help to moderate prices."
The worry now, he explained, is whether there is an under-supply in the market. Hence, the government will release enough land to meet medium-term demand, and let the market decide.
On public housing, one issue that has drawn attention was the housing board's latest annual report, which showed a deficit of S$2 billion.
The amount is twice that of the previous financial year.
Mr Mah said the HDB makes a loss each time it gives out subsidies to first-timer home buyers, and when it sells flats lower than their cost price. The reason for the high deficit was because more flats were offered for sale last year, compared to the year before.
"The question is of course, should HDB be making a loss? The answer is yes," said Mr Mah. "It is making a loss and the government gives it grants every year to cover the losses, mainly because we're giving subsidies to people to buy flats to make flats affordable to first timers. That is why we're making a loss." |
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By: puyi
Today (2:07 am) Yahoo! Profile:
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Channel NewsAsia - Saturday, November 7
SINGAPORE: The Singapore government is boosting the supply of private residential sites in the first half of next year.
It has announced new sites for sale, which could yield over 10,500 homes â the highest number of units since the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme started in the second half of 2001.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said on Friday that in deciding supply, it looks at market conditions and mediumâterm demand.
While demand has cooled off slightly, following high prices and moves by the government to curb a speculative bubble, observers believe the property market is on the mend.
Located at Buangkok, Yishun, Choa Chu Kang, Tampines, Boon Lay, Simei, Sembawang and Upper Serangoon, these sites could see nearly 3,000 new homes built, all aimed at the mass market.
Donald Han, managing director of Cushman & Wakefield, said: "A lot of these are mainly to tackle the concern if prices get out of synch in terms of market fundamentals, and if they get out of reach of the common people. |
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By: puyi
2 days ago (Friday, 4:31 am) Yahoo! Profile:
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AAP November 5, 2009
The federal government must urgently stump up more cash to help combat a housing repossession crisis, says NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos.
Figures released by the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday show the number of householders facing court to save their homes is on the rise, but Mr Hatzistergos says many are being denied legal aid.
The problem stems from an $80 million drop in federal funding since 1996-97.
As the number of repossessions grows, the NSW Attorney General and NSW Legal Aid are calling for federal funding to be restored to previous levels.
"It just cannot continue in this way when more and more demand is being met with less and less resources on the part of the commonwealth government," Mr Hatzistergos told reporters on Thursday. |
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By: jaymarcel
3 days ago (Thursday, 1:30 pm) Yahoo! Profile:
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| Hi rodney, Mr Kenn is printing tee-shirts for you, steve & menta as we speak. |
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By: lasty49
3 days ago (Thursday, 12:39 pm) Yahoo! Profile:
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Meanwhile back in tent city as those who are waiting eagerly for a dramatic drop in house prices are getting nervous that people havent panicked and wont sell their homes.
The CO2 levels are rising and the ice caps are melting ..the tents will be flooded.. they cant wait any longer.. Chicken Licken is about to happen.
Al Gore has them spooked as well. |
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By: rodneysaviour2
3 days ago (Thursday, 12:22 pm) Yahoo! Profile:
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THE DAMAGE IS ALREADY DONE
I am sure that many of those who grabbed the "Government House Purchase Carrot" have now realised their mistake.
Now saddled with debt at a time when our economic future is far from assured, (to say the least) and facing what seem to be ever increasing payments as a result of the increasing interest rate few now look so happily upon the purchase of what they had hoped would be their DREAM HOME.
Sad it is. |
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By: jaymarcel
3 days ago (Thursday, 7:53 am) Yahoo! Profile:
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| In Australia you still have to prove to the bank you have a job & can afford the repayments, which apparently was not the case in the USA. |
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By: craigaharwood
4 days ago (Wednesday, 10:06 am) Yahoo! Profile:
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I think housing prices are not as much about supply of housing but supply of money and demand. For some reason many people will borrow as much as the bank is prepared to lend them and remeber banks are different to what they were in the 70's.
Banks are in the business of selling money responsible lending went out the doors many years ago. The responsibility is not to the borrower its to the shareholder ie if we lend the money and they can't repay it do we have an assets that we can sell to recover all plus more of our funds. |
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By: jaymarcel
4 days ago (Wednesday, 9:49 am) Yahoo! Profile:
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'Monthly payments rise Average monthly loan repayments for a typical first-home mortgage rose to $2087 in the quarter from $1983'
I don't know of anyone paying that much, put into context thats an extra $25 a week, if this causes a problem then the banks really are lending too much to the wrong people. |
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By: jaymarcel
4 days ago (Wednesday, 9:00 am) Yahoo! Profile:
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Hi puyi, I'm not sure that I agree with the statement migrants will return overseas due to housing affordability, the answer is for them to rent like anyone else that can't afford to buy.
You don't emigrate to a new country just so you can own a house, otherwise they would all emigrate to a cheap asian or cheap european country. |
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By: puyi
4 days ago (Wednesday, 8:51 am) Yahoo! Profile:
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Housing affordability worsens
Author: Chris Zappone, SMH
Date: October 29, 2009
Housing affordability for first-home buyers worsened again in Australia in the September quarter, as record low interest rates and government grants stoked demand, a report shows.
Rising urban house prices are already prompting some recent migrants to consider returning overseas, while potential immigrants are being discouraged.
The affordability index dropped 3.3 per cent in the September quarter, following a 5 per cent slide in the June quarter, according to the Housing Industry Association and Commonwealth Bank, which compiled the data.
The deteriorating housing affordability tends to hit the lower end of the market most, said the Victorian chief executive of the Sacred Heart Mission Michael Perusco.
''It's irresponsible to see the housing markets only as an investment tool,'' Mr Perusco said.
''The sooner we learn that, the sooner we're going to learn that having a group locked out is no good for anyone and starts to have broader consequences," he said.
Mr Persuco said Sacred Heart's job of finding accommodation for homeless individuals and couples was getting more difficult.
Monthly payments rise Average monthly loan repayments for a typical first-home mortgage rose to $2087 in the quarter from $1983, an increase of 5.2 per cent, HIA said.
"If we don't succeed in significantly lifting the level of new home building over the next few years then there is a very real risk that we will return to the woeful affordability levels of 2007 and 2008," Mr Phillips said.
The weighted average of home prices increased 4.2 per cent in the June quarter, according to the latest official data. |
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By: jaymarcel
6 days ago (Monday, 1:59 pm) Yahoo! Profile:
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| I agree with you there al, I think anyone with no obviou intention of working should be placed in these little country town to sit around & do nothing all day if that is what they choose, leaving the public housing in the city available to the real needy such as the retired, the lower wage workers, single mums etc. all who still deserve/need access to the facilities of the city/suburbs. |
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By: almurrie1@y7mail.com
6 days ago (Monday, 1:28 pm) Yahoo! Profile:
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There is plenty of affordable housing. Any country town in Australia has plenty. You need to make your statements clearly.
The demand for housing in major cities is never going to be abated. This is where the jobs are. The only way to do this is redevelop existing properties and this costs hundreds of thousands. Hardly making homes cheaper. Also infrastructure costs are high. How do expect water and sewage to happen? Be realistic.
Releasing more land just makes the urban sprawl more unmanagable, traffic congestion worse etc. Nearly all the food growing land has already been released for housing. Where is the food going to come from? This stupid thinking that the land is huge so you can build anywhere has no logic. There are mountains and arid deserts that should not become city centres, because of lack of water. Coastal areas should be avoided also as the sea level rises. Northern areas are so hot and wet in summer and so dry in winter that no one wants to live there.
There is no simple answer, releasing more and more land has already caused every existing city in Australia to become almost unlivable.
A law should be enacted to restrict any more expansion of existing cities, and force the planned development of select regional centres instead and force all new industries and government services to relocate there.
Al |
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By: sly.guy_nsw1
6 days ago (Monday, 10:39 am) Yahoo! Profile:
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Hey!
Property value will fall significantly. Just a matter of time.
You see, sooner or later the lack of "affordable housing" issue shall become a "political issue" ..
One that shall be big enough to attract the attention of vote hungry politicians. Politicians who having realised the fact that now there are more potential votes available for them to grab held by those who need cheaper housing than those who already hold overvalued housing.
When this happens, serious efforts shall be made by government to deflate the property market bubble and bring house ownership within the reach of the working man.
Afterall, how long does anyone really think the population is going to put up with having to pay so much for a place to live be it rented or owned in a country with so much space.
The people will speak. And when they do, politicians will act and prices will fall. |
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By: jaymarcel
6 days ago (Monday, 8:19 am) Yahoo! Profile:
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| Hi dannyw good to read your comments, I believe the states & gov are to blame due to their lack of land release, developer costs & lack of interest to individuals building applications. |
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By: stevebwilson1
1/11/2009
10:46 pm Yahoo! Profile:
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FIRST TIME BUYERS - YOU ARE BEING OR HAVE ALREADY BEEN FOOLED
Seeking to shore up the economy for a period of time in the vain hope that the "Golden Years" of prosperity had not evaporated along with the economic health of so many of our trading partners the Government introduced a serioes of measures including the first time buyers "stimulus" which at face value apeared to be measures that would result in the stimulation of a stagnant economy but which were in fact nothing more than economic traps for the less wary. Economic traps designed to ensnare those who grabbed what appeared to be a free ride.. A free ride..? Shouldn`t that in itself be enough to make people sit up and take notice...?
SAdly, many have taken the "Governments Carrot", (as my good friend Rodney referred to it on these same pages not so long ago) and have no nothing except financial ruin and / or debt to look forward to in the years to come.
STIMULUS? Huh!!
All that these failed stimulus measures have managed to do is prolong the agony.
Our economy will collapse and with it shall collapse the dreams of many who would otherwise have survived the comming finacial storm far better than they will now that they have accepted the "Governments Carrot" or should we call it .... a financial "CHAIN & BALL"..?
For surely this STIMULUS shall weigh heavily upon the bank accounts and savings on much of our kneighbours in the years to come. |
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By: puyi
1/11/2009
12:19 pm Yahoo! Profile:
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By Nick Gardner
From: The Sunday Telegraph
November 01, 2009
Rate rise set to shock the nation
Most financial experts are tipping a rise in the official cash rate of 0.25 per cent, but some economists said the rise could be 0.50 per cent - meaning a $100 increase in repayments on a $300,000 loan.
New research conducted by analysts Fujitsu Consulting and seen exclusively by The Sunday Telegraph has concluded that the number of people who default on their mortgage payments will almost double from 25,000 today to 40,000 by the end of 2010.
First-home buyers, lured by government stimulus but caught by rising rates, pay freezes and reduced working hours, are predicted to account for nearly half the default increase. |
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By: puyi
1/11/2009
12:07 pm Yahoo! Profile:
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STEPHANIE PEATLING AND JESSICA MAHAR, SMH
November 1, 2009
Each state and territory government would be allowed to cap the ''enormously successful'' grant, federal Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek confirmed yesterday.
But the Federal Government is already winding back stimulus for housing amid concerns about affordability.
Ms Plibersek said the cap had been set by state and territory governments at the level they thought was ''most sensible''.
In NSW, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, only homes less than $750,000 will receive the $7000 grant. In Victoria, the cap will be set at $600,000 while Queenslanders will be able to pay up to $1 million and still receive the bonus.
Prospective property buyers yesterday said the stimulus measures should be wound back.
''We're waiting for it to end, so things settle down.'' |
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By: dannyw1976
31/10/2009
6:47 pm Yahoo! Profile:
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I wonder if there is a reason why more land is not being released? Could it be so that when the market corrects 15-30% and we have a sub-prime problem the effects won't be as bad as a whole due to less housing supply? Does the government know more than the average punter and mass media about the overall housing market? Thank god for a generous stimulus package, FHBG (although that is a source of the bubble) and this artificial (stimulus generated) market confidence otherwise we would already be need deep. Cash is king and limiting/paying down debt at this moment in time is smart. Also wait for the bear market rally to correct. More short term pain coming until mid 2010.
just my thoughts.... |
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By: puyi
31/10/2009
10:56 am Yahoo! Profile:
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MARIKA DOBBIN, The Age
October 31, 2009
Two years ago, housing affordability was a key platform of Kevin Ruddâs campaign and one of his first policy priorities upon winning government.
So what happened?
Well, the suite of measures Rudd introduced â including the first home buyer grants, first home saver accounts and rental affordability scheme â have had no obvious effect on affordability.
A look at the rental market reveals that Melbourneâs vacancy rate is still close to non-existent at 1.3 per cent.
Weekly rents have plateaued but remain at all-time highs.
Spoiling the picture further, the Governmentâs $1.1 billion home saver accounts, launched a year ago to help first timers save deposits, has flopped. A Senate committee in June found that just 11,000 accounts had been opened to March, making the target of 730,000 accounts in five years seem fanciful.
The Age has been repeatedly frustrated in getting an update on account numbers since then.
Victorian Council of Social Service head Cath Smith says while the Federal governmentâs $6 billion injection into social housing was a positive step, its other measures have failed to meet the underlying causes of exorbitant rental and house prices.
ââWhen youâve got people having to borrow $400,000 or more to buy their first home â a debt that is at least six times their annual income â it shows weâve got a really big problem with the Australian market,ââ she said.
ââBillions of dollars a year is being spent by the Federal government, primarily on tax incentives for investors, which has not actually assisted affordability and there is massive market failure now occurring.ââ Indeed, there is a strong argument to say that the Governmentâs measures to stimulate artificially an already hungry appetite for property has overcooked the Melbourne market. |
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By: jaymarcel
30/10/2009
7:50 am Yahoo! Profile:
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Hi rodney, sorry if I have mixed you up with another poster, I suffer from bad memory due to my old drinking habits. I will look back before jumping to conclusions & making statements which may cause offense in the future.
Interesting to read your comments though, so if your not in the sharemarket or property, where do you dabble these days? I hope you didn't get tricked by the gov & put it all into super. |
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By: rodneysaviour2
28/10/2009
3:10 pm Yahoo! Profile:
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Hello Jay!
Hmmmm. I'm not really "into" investing in shares mate. Though I do find it somewhat interesting to hear whatâs going on and might be tempted to have a nibble at something every now and again just for fun.
You may remember my posting comment relating to the property market several times in the past and encouraging people NOT to buy property at this time given the fact that an economic disaster is imminent.
To refresh your memory, (please refer to my numerous earlier posts on this as well as several different BLOG's) - I used to own several properties and benefitted greatly from the income generated by them over the last few, ("Golden") years in addition to a very nice profit which was realised when I sold each of them, (which now largely finances my retirement). I sold my last "investment property" earlier this year after retiring from full time employment and realising that the property market was bound to crash.
Maybe you have me confused with another poster(?). |
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By: jaymarcel
28/10/2009
11:57 am Yahoo! Profile:
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Hi Guy,
I totally agree with you, that is part of the problem on here, a different age or stage in life means your view & timeline for different investments will vary but with shares you do have to take a much more active roll, if he would have invested in property when he started investing in shares he wouldn't have to closely follow the sharemarket like he does now, he could be fishing or playing golf or travelling or just basically spending his money rather than gambling with it.
Sorry rodney I am sure your still enjoying yourself on the sharemarket its just not for me.
I agree each to their own. |
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By: guy.longshank1
28/10/2009
11:20 am Yahoo! Profile:
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Hi Jaymarcel!
Looks like you are doing well!
Always good to see someone doing well. And indeed the returns on your investment which you posted do seem very attractive.
But I am sure you will agree that one investment is not the right one for everyone..
From what he has written in the past, I gather that Rodney is retired and living a relatively quiet and peaceful life. Whereas from what you have written I am lead to understand that you are probably much younger than him and still very much involved in the process of acquiring wealth.
Whereas at your current stage in life you might regard 5%, (probably soon to be more like 7% or 8% IMHO) fixed income on savings to be less than attractive, I would venture to say that people in Rodney's position, (judging by what he has posted previously) would find it to be nmore han satisfatory, (for various reasons).
Each to their own. |
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