Reality check on housing dreams in Singapore

On the question of whether homes cost too much in Singapore, a gap seems to exist between what the numbers show and what many young couples feel. What gives?

Janice Lim

Published Fri, Feb 10, 2023 · 06:10 PM

Brunch

WHEN Xie Jiawei and Hazel Wang set out to buy their first home in early 2020, they naturally started by applying for Singapore’s version of a golden ticket – also known as securing a new Build-To-Order (BTO) public housing flat in a mature estate through the Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) sales exercise. After trying and failing six times, the couple turned to the resale market, where they found themselves constantly getting outbid by other buyers.

“Our offer was not very far – like S$10,000 below asking – but we still lost. It’s really a very tough market for us,” said the 30-year-old, who works in the real estate sector.

In April last year, after almost a year of getting battered in the resale market, they finally closed on a S$770,000 four-room resale flat in Telok Blangah, a unit that Xie said was not their “first choice”.