Case Study 3 - How Couple got Stuck with Property

Tequila,
Are you sure?

is it really a good time to buy in 2009 or 2010?

Wait until the bubble has burst. We will read about it in the papers. Then it's time to swoop and get some good deals.

I see lots of recent graduates who have zero experience and ask for the moon.

Youngsters these days are out of touch with reality and I think this recession, hopefully a long and deep one, will discipline them

The youth these days are soft, borrow heavily, gamble heavily and have no sense of discipline. Too much Western influence and start behaving like Americans who always spend beyond their means

In the 1985 recession, graduates could not get jobs and had to take $400 a month salary and this was when there was only one NUS

Now everybody has degree. A long and deep recession is good for the well being of the country

Assuming the case study couple lost $400K in home depreciation over the past 12 years. In retrospect, has anyone thought about the amount of money Singaporeans lose from car ownership.

Generally, most singaporeans change cars every 3 years, so in 12 yrs, they would have gone thru 4 car ownerships. For a 3 yr depreciation on cars (Jap and Conti), it can range from $30K to $100K per yr, so go figure how much money can be lost in 12 years, just having a set of wheels..

Are you referring to the Seasons Park condo at Yio Chu Kang Road? I also know of a friend who bought there at the height of the 90's boom, paying over a million for a unit the size of a 5-room HDB flat. It's definitely a money-losing investment (if you consider it an investment).

The unit is now worth about $700k. Check out the recent transactions at URA.

I see many people repeating the same mistake again this time round.

Originally Posted by Salary.sg

It's not always so easy to make money, as the previous case studies suggested.

They set their eyes on a 1,300 square foot condominium just north of Ang Mo Kio. The location is not very central, but the asking price was a crazy $1 million.
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Even now, when property prices are at peak levels (and maybe on the way down), the couple's condo is still a loss-making investment. Why? Their condo is a leasehold property.

Not all condos will depreciate drastically like Seasons Park. The market can stay "irrational" as you claimed for longer than you can argue about the irrationality of Singaporeans.

As long as there's demand, prices will go up. It may even hit astronomical levels as long as the market stays "irrational". Heard about the tulip bulb craze? Singapore is a perfect place with stupid people to create a tulip bulb in housing, except that housing is a non-perishable asset.

Don't forget about en bloc potential too.