Singapore boasts of a different kind of playing field when it comes to real estate. You may be considering purchasing property in this first class country, but what does that entail? What kind of property can you own? What are the rules and regulations for non-Singaporeans? Are there loans available to you? How is the housing market in Singapore? To answer all of your questions, read below.
Public Housing vs Private Residences
Singapore regulates public housing through the Housing Development Board or HDB. Because this is heavily subsidised by the government, foreigners are not able to purchase public housing in Singapore. These public residential housing includes build to order or BTO. Only Singapore Citizens (SC) and Permanent Residents (PR) may avail of the public housing programs offered in Singapore.
On the other hand, private residential housing includes executive condominiums, private residential apartments and condominiums, and landed housing property are available for SC, PR, and foreigners in specific circumstances. Private condominiums can be bought by SC, PR and foreigners while foreigners need to obtain prior approval from the government to be able to purchase landed properties.
HDB Flat vs HDB BTO Flat
A Build-to-Order flat, or also known as BTO, is a new type of highly subsidised flat directly from the Housing Development Board and comes with a 99-year lease. Brand new BTOs are launched in Singapore every quarter where eligible buyers go through a balloting process for flat allotment to potential buyers. They also usually have to wait at least three years to be able to obtain the keys to their new home and must fulfil the Minimum Occupancy Period (MOP) of five years on their flat before re-selling their flat on the resale market. For this reason, BTO 2024 are exceedingly popular and have sold out as this article is being written.
On the other hand, there are HDB resale flats. As the name suggests, these pre-loved flats are older but are ready to move in because they’ve already achieved the minimum MOP of five years and are now available in the open market. Resale flats have fewer restrictions than the current counterparts. What’s great about these resale flats is that they tend to be bigger and have a more spacious layout compared to the build-to-order flats, but of course they come with a higher price tag.
Eligibility vs Non-Eligibility
For those who are considering purchasing the Build to Order flats, only Singapore Citizens (SC), permanent residents, or those purchasing with SC may be eligible to purchase BTO. Provided, of course, that they are at least 21 years old if married, orphaned, or widowed, and has a household monthly income of $7000 below for two to three room flats and below $14000 for four-room flats.
It is the contrary for HDB resale flats because you only need at least one Singaporean Citizen or two PRs to make the purchase of a resale flat and there is no income ceiling or limit on previous purchases for real estate.
If you’re looking for further assistance on HDB Build to Order flats, look no further than this website.
