TOTD: HDB Circular Contradictions

Thought of the Day - Circular Contradictions

We have heard about Circular Argument but this is the first time I have heard about people going in Circular Contradictions!

This actually comes from the Chief of HDB. It is good that she has talked about people should pay according to the lease remaining in a resale HDB flat but she still insists that HDB could be monetized as an asset for retirement!

One of the key method of monetizing HDB for retirement is to downgrade to smaller flats. But wait! If people follow her advice on paying much lesser to flats that are old, the. How would the retirees selling their old flats for good money in order to downgrade to a smaller flat, the new studio apartment but yet have excess money to get out from the deal to finance their retirement?

Besides, most people would have PLEDGED their flat to HDB and I guess there would be very little money left for them to cash out from the downgrading, if there is any at all!

And studio apartment isn’t that cheap at all! For 30 years lease, HDB made you pay $60k to $80k depending on locations but if you calculate prorated according to lease, it means this one room studio apartment actually cost $180k to $240k for 90 years! Please remember, it is just a studio apartment!

So if you can sell your three room or four room flat at $250k, if you could actually sell it off in the first place when the lease left is merely 60 years or less, half of it goes to CPF due to the pledge, at least $60k goes to the new studio apartment, in the end, after netting transaction cost, you get $50k or $60k after all that trouble but how long could this last for retirement?

The other option is even more kind of a joke instead of real option. Selling back the lease to HDB. How much would HDB pay? Definitely much lesser and most probably ended up with a couple of hundred dollars per month.

To rent out their flats? The truth is, PAP doesn’t value your privacy at all. And when the grey tsunami waves set into motion, I don’t know whether there is high rental market to make money from when you start to have lots of supply of rental flats from both HDB and private apartments.

Of course, those staying in three room HDB may have to sleep in living room in order to get enough rent to live on ...

The whole problem started when PAP sold Singaporeans the FALSEHOID and FAKE dream that Asset Enhancement Scam could do wonders and make your HDB rise in price forever. That’s why people are throwing huge amount of their CPF into this scam. Now they are stuck.

With graying population, who will buy old HDB flats with dwindling lease? The situation will be worse when many baby boomers who have stupidly believe in PAP Asset Enhancement scam, try to sell off their old HDB flats to cash out for retirement because they have very little left in their CPF after paying a great deal for their current HDB flats.

There will be oversupply of resale HDB flats with very small demand... who would buy after hearing the confirmation from PAP that these flats will have zero value after lease expired and now, these flats have less than 60 years and they would not be able to sell them off for retirement?

The price for these flats will face a spiral downward price pressure and in fact, most of them will have problem selling.

It is an amazing Circular Contradictions which the HDB Chief tries very hard to sell. She is just like that sociologist, who only look on the overly simplistic micro level instead of looking at the macro level of possible market conditions.

Don’t ever allow sociologists to meddle in Economics policies again. We will end up with never ending Circular Sufferings.

Goh Meng Seng