MBT: Longer housing loan helps people to pay less
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Despite widespread public unhappiness at the sky-rocketing prices of HDB flats, PAP candidate for Tampines GRC Mah Bow Tan continues to insist that they remain ‘affordable’ to the majority of Singaporeans.
Under Mr Mah’s watch, the prices of HDB flats have nearly doubled since 2006, thereby pricing many ordinary Singaporeans, especially young couples from the public housing market.
In a rebuttal to the opposition’s criticisms that Singaporeans are ’stuck’ with a thirty year bank loan for their HDB flats, Mr Mah wrote that “it is not the length of the loan but the percentage of monthly income repayable to the housing loan that matters. ”
He said the length of the loan is up to the home buyer and suggests young people take up a loan which is 30 to 35 percent of their monthly income to ensure that the length of the tenure, the interest rates and loan repayment are within their means.
“But if people are not happy with the 30-year loan for whatever reason, they can always take a smaller loan,” he added.
Mr Mah also said a longer loan actually helps people to ‘pay less’:
“Most people who do that, for cash flow reasons (and) never really go the whole 30 years. After 10 years, 15 years, they sell off, and that’s it. They make a profit … keep the profit, and then they use that to upgrade.”
It is strange that Mr Mah uses the percentage of monthly income to assess housing affordability while a different benchmark – the median multiple is used in the rest of the world.
The Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey uses the “Median Multiple” (median house price divided by median annual household income) to assess housing affordability.
The Median Multiple is widely used for evaluating urban markets, for example being recommended by the World Bank and the United Nation. It is an easily understood indicator of the structural health of residential markets and facilitates meaningful housing affordability comparisons.
In recent decades, the Median Multiple has been remarkably similar among the nations surveyed, with median house prices generally being 3.0 or less times median household incomes where demand and supply are balanced.
Using the Median Multiple as a benchmark, all HDB flats including BTO flats will command a median multiple of more than 3.0, meaning that they are unaffordable to ordinary Singaporeans. (read more here)
Though Mr Mah admitted that he is likely to lose ’some votes’ over the housing issue, PAP de facto leader Lee Kuan Yew proclaimed Tampines GRC a ’safe’ seat during a recent visit there.
“Tampines voters must be DAFT to cast a protest vote against Mah Bow Tan,” Lee had told the state media during a press conference in April last year.
With Lee Kuan Yew promising to import another 900,000 foreign workers on work permits and perhaps many more on S and E passes into Singapore, Singaporeans should brace another price hike in HDB flats which show no signs of abating in spite of a series of ‘cooling measures’ introduced.
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wow
profits from e proceeds
1 HDB flat is for me for my whole life after settling down
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MBT: Longer housing loan helps people to pay less
totally shameless.
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would anyone like to have a longer housing loan?
if only he is givin interest free loans
MBT spouting rubbish again
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Have to consider the amount of interest one needs to pay in the long run also.
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NO NO NO!! longer loan period people have to pay even more!but boh bian because cannot one time pay up all have to stretch and spread the payments linger priods so that monhtly can pay lest. the analogue is the sameas lona from banks and lonas from ah long!
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Throw Mah Bow Tan Out!
Everywhere he goes, he will find some way to squeeze out more blood from Singaporeans.
Vote him out on May 7!
Enough is enough!
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The reason why u need to take out a 30 year loan to buy anything is because you can't really afford it
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dont forget these 2 facts;
the high interest we pay for housing loan. the longer the loan the more interest we pay.
after selling the flat we have to buy another.
how many people actually profit from selling hdb flats?
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how to have babies?
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Originally posted by dragg:
dont forget these 2 facts;
the high interest we pay for housing loan. the longer the loan the more interest we pay.
after selling the flat we have to buy another.
how many people actually profit from selling hdb flats?
everyone in tat state of mind would forget e 'new' location is equally expensive
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30 years X 2.5% interest = 75% interest.
Most people either take up hdb loan or bank loan.
I don't see why hdb claims to be losing money, when they get paid twice for 1 flat, after factoring in the interest component.
$300k flat + 75% interest = $525k.
that is not remotely affordable. and you have to assume that the family would remain continuously employed throughtout the 30 yr loan period, maintaining the income level.
and i don't see how an additional $252k of interests is making housing affordable to young couples.
And lastly, the 20k-40k housing grant is peanuts compared to the amount of interests they are earning back.
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You can sell it later on ma
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So to break even on a $300k flat, you need to sell it for $525k ??? That sounds like a terrible deal!
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its a house!!!!a roof over the head!!!like a life support system for everyone!!!with no shelter at low cost...where u wanna stay???unnder some flyover??
u sell it not for 100% profits!!!!u dun sell yer arm or kidney do u???housing is like a part of u...and it should never be used just for the sake of profit....
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dont get confused here.....hdb and pvt housing!
pvt housing is meant for rich people where 1miliion $$$$ is nothing to them.where a penthouse with an indoor swimming pool is part of the deco!
hdb is a basic necessity in living as a decent human so u can werk to getting apvt property!
if u wanna sell house n get profit.....the do so in big luxurious apartments with a swimming pool ma!!!how can u use hdb to satisfy a need for profit where its just a basic living space!
if u want to be greedy and want prestidge.....best get pvt estate!
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Originally posted by sbst275:
everyone in tat state of mind would forget e 'new' location is equally expensivelonger housing loan means we pay LESS PER MONTH but MORE INTEREST over a longer period.
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Start one small lie,
Now have to tell more big lie to sustain the small lie.
Even Lau Goh is lying to himself and telling it like it is a fact.
Just a bunch of liers who are here to fool the people and even to the extent they have fooled themselves.
Do we still want to support a bunch of liers and fools who keep telling us fairy tales and fantasy ?
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Q: how do you know he's lying?
A: he does something.. anything...
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Don't need a minister to state the obvious. Of coz longer loans = pay less per month lah.
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So very kind of PAP.
Should make the loan term be 50-60 years, then we can work till we die.
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Originally posted by βÎτά:
So very kind of PAP.
Should make the loan term be 50-60 years, then we can work till we die.
can i pay like $10 for 1000 years?
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Originally posted by the Bear:
can i pay like $10 for 1000 years?
Serious. I don't mind.
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Originally posted by βÎτά:
Serious. I don't mind.
neither would i..
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Dear Mah Bow Tan,
Together with Wong Kang Seng, both of you are the most hated PAP ministers, judging by what many Singaporeans say about both of u.
Now you want us to extend our hosing loan so we pay less each month. Do you know that If you take a loan for 30 years the interest paid is 2 and a half times the value of the loan.
Suze Orman the 'US financial lady' says that if you cannot to pay a 15 year term loan, it means we cannot afford a house. According to her, a 30 year loan is a rip off because the total interest we will pay to the bank for a 30 year loan is RIDICULOUS.
Longer housing loan helps people to pay less RIDICULOUS