The news of cooling measures in December 2021 came as a relief to many, but January’s numbers have thrown a wet towel over some homeowners’ hopes. Resale flat prices seem to be higher despite the cooling measures, and it begs the question: if cooling measures don’t calm the market, what will?Flash estimates show HDB prices climbed by just over one per cent for January, up from 0.8 per cent in December, when new cooling measures were passed.
Some realtors opined that the cooling measures are targeted more at private properties than HDB flats. For example, a lower TDSR limit and a higher ABSD are only significant to condo buyers. As private property prices keep climbing, and upgrading to them becomes more complicated, a portion of the demand could filter into the resale flat market instead.
Bank loans are completely unaffected, as banks continue to provide up to 75 per cent financing for flats. “If husband and wife are both Permanent Residents , then they cannot buy a BTO flat. If a couple is unmarried, they can only buy two-room if they buy BTO, it may not be big enough for their family. If they are downgrading from private property, they won’t want to wait more than two years* before they can apply for BTO.