Growing difficulty in owning a private landed home does not imply a lower standard of living

IS LIFE getting harder for young professionals here? With costly car ownership, many people give up on owning a car.

On the housing front, upgrading from a Housing and Development Board (HDB) Build-To-Order flat to a condominium is challenging. And owning a landed home can be beyond the reach of even high-income earners.

Yet, in the early years after Singapore’s independence, numerous local accountants, civil servants, doctors, engineers, lawyers and teachers bought private landed homes, sometimes on single incomes.