How much savings do you have?

3months old. 12k in my baby bonus account. Papa said shd be Thanksful for the govt that give me a head start for my age.

Enough already. So irritating.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

3months old. 12k in my baby bonus account. Papa said shd be Thanksful for the govt that give me a head start for my age.

We have been waiting on the side line for the property price to drop further, but the down trend is slight and not consistent. We have our eyes on a newly completed condo near an MRT. The price of the unit size we want is still way higher than the launch price 4 years ago, although it has stopped going up since the TDSR.

With the gahmen saying that they will now cut down on land sale, we are not sure whether we should wait any longer. Even the HDB BTO supply will be reduced. It is clear the gahmen don't want the prices to drop too much.

Likewise for car COE. Now we also not sure if we should wait till next year when our current COE expire or to change car now for the new year. There was a lot of talk that there will be bumper crop of COEs next year, but the gahmen is cutting car growth to 0.25%. And with many people still wanting to buy a car after scrapping their old ones, it looks like COE prices also not going to go down much if at all.

So to buy or not to buy?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Tidal wave of property supply hits S’pore

September 23, 2014

Investors should sell their residential investments in Singapore. The property market, which has been gradually declining, does not need any new action to tip it over. Just the sheer number of new homes being supplied both in Singapore and Iskandar will drive prices lower.

New private home sales in Singapore have plunged in the past three months to about 40 per cent of the monthly average of the past five years or so.

Since January 2010, the average number of homes sold by developers each month has exceeded 1,300 units. The total number of new homes sold in June, July and August were 531, 560 and 490, respectively, including executive condominiums (EC). Excluding the hybrid housing type, the respective numbers were 482, 509, and 432, respectively, Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and Century 21 (IPA) data showed.

Given seasonal factors, such as the Hungry Ghost Month and the quadrennial football World Cup, the three months of dismal private home sales will not be sufficient to render the residential sector a bear market. However, the downward trend can be confirmed by several other indicators.

The Housing and Development Board (HDB)’s resale price index, which has a direct impact on mass market private properties, has fallen 5.4 per cent over the past four quarters.

During the same period, the URA’s private residential price index slipped 3.4 per cent. The weakness is also reflected in the rental market, where median private non-landed rentals eased 1.1 per cent in the past four quarters to S$3.79 psf per month. Meanwhile, private residential occupancy rates fell to 92.9 per cent in the second quarter of this year from 93.9 per cent in the third quarter of last year. In absolute terms, the number of vacant units increased to 21,268 in the second quarter of this year from 17,459 in the third quarter of last year.

Taken together, it is evident that we experienced a slow decline over the past year. Will this gradual weakening lead to a soft landing? Or are we about to fall off the edge of a cliff? As a practising real estate agent, I find it tougher to hold up high rents for landlords. With the rising vacancy rates amid a stream of newly-completed properties, the competition for tenants is intense, especially with the Government tightening foreign employment.

Although some landlords have yet to tune themselves to this new reality, others have reacted quickly ahead of next year’s record high supply, which will further pressure rents.

Supply of HDB, EC UNITS and Private Residences

In the past 10 years, Singapore has added about 8,000 new private residential units per year. But next year, we can expect about 22,000 units to be completed and 24,000 the year after and at least 16,000 in 2017. The pressure on rents will be overwhelming. Lifting the property curbs will not help fill vacant apartments and improve rents.

The expected supply of new HDB flats and ECs is large as well. More than 25,000 units will be completed every year over the next three years. There are also many second-time new HDB buyers and those who are upgrading to ECs who are required by law to sell their current HDB flats when they collect the keys to their new flats or ECs. Unless a few of the cooling measures are lifted and the foreigner employment policies are relaxed, the HDB Resale Price Index and the URA Residential Price Index are set to decline at a faster pace with the onslaught of new, completed home completions, even after taking into account the need for infrastructure to keep pace with population growth.

Supply in Iskandar

We must also not forget the promise of lower-cost properties across the Causeway in Iskandar.

The numerous Iskandar residential projects launched in Singapore since 2010, in locations such as Puteri Harbour, Danga Bay, Tebrau, Medini, etc, are now being completed.

They are ready to compete for tenants from Singapore seeking to reduce their housing costs and who do not mind making the commute between the countries. I estimate that over the next four years, about 10,000 new homes will be added per year in Iskandar and some of these will find tenants from Singapore with their attractive rents.

In the past six months, there has been an increase in the number of mortgagee home sales, with several headline-grabbing ones involving luxury condominiums in Sentosa Cove and the prime District 9. During the luxury property boom from 2006 to 2008, about 60 per cent of top-end apartments were purchased by foreigners. Some have held on to their investments, but they are now feeling stifled as a result of the multiple rounds of cooling measures, weak property demand and the restricted ability to refinance under the current regime.

For those who are willing to take a long-term view, say, 15 years and beyond, landed homes and high-quality freehold properties in Districts 9 and 10 would remain safe bets as these sub-segments are limited in terms of current stock and future supply.

As for now and the immediate future, as I forecast in a commentary in this column last year (“The price war has begun”, Nov 8, 2013), sellers are lowering prices and this will continue to take its toll on investors.

I recommend that investors sell their residential investments before they are engulfed by the tidal wave of new supply.

By Ku Swee Yong – a licensed real estate agent and the chief executive of property agency Century 21 Singapore. An author of two bestsellers, Real Estate Riches and Building Real Estate Riches, he has just launched his third book, Real Estate Realities — Accommodating The Investment Needs Of Today’s Society.

Source : Today – 19 Sep 2014

Originally Posted by anon

27yo, single, no debt but the occasional credit card debt cleared @ month-end, have worked for almost 2.5 yrs.

- 10k in SG stocks (approx.)
- 20k in cash (approx.)


lost money by (foolishly) investing in the wrong things while in school - now i adopt an investment approach, to find the right stocks to act as a money sink (scouring for "undervalued" stocks with good balance sheet/cashflow, potential long/mid-term appreciation in stock price or potential acquisition targets) and to hold some cash in case of an opportunity.

also actively trying to look at short-term trading opportunities for the tickers that i "cover". i'm quite risk-averse so i do smaller trades and only doing so if i'm very comfortable.

no opinion on property market since my networth doesn't afford me much.

with SGX reducing board-lots from 1000 to 100... it will certainly set the path for liquidity, reduced brokerage fees with the likes of SCB (hopefully) for small fishes like me and more stocks to look at.

You should count in your cpf money as well ... At least for the ordinary account funds ..

Originally Posted by Unregistered

We have been waiting on the side line for the property price to drop further, but the down trend is slight and not consistent. We have our eyes on a newly completed condo near an MRT. The price of the unit size we want is still way higher than the launch price 4 years ago, although it has stopped going up since the TDSR.

With the gahmen saying that they will now cut down on land sale, we are not sure whether we should wait any longer. Even the HDB BTO supply will be reduced. It is clear the gahmen don't want the prices to drop too much.

So to buy or not to buy?

If it is to stay, then it doesn't make a difference.

Look at affordability instead. If you can afford it (now and also the future mortgage payments), then go ahead!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You should count in your cpf money as well ... At least for the ordinary account funds ..

i consider my CPF contribution (and employer contribution) as taxes - taxes paid today for future government benefits that i may enjoy ("pension", housing, medical, etc).

that's a 20% salary haircut already, on top of the bit of tax to pay Q1 every here. so to foreigners who complain of high taxes in their countries, we aren't so different i guess.

ways to use CPF monies, lock-up, rates of returns, etc. are subjected to the government's whims - an asset is no longer an asset if you have no control of it... thence my view of CPF as above.

[viknes]

Hi friends,

I'm new on to this forum and keen to know more and exchange experience with working professionals on career development.


Secondly, It's been always in my mind to pick up some knowledge about investments and not too sure where do i start about. May i have some guides and advices?

I'm sure there are many of you from different level of knowledge and well-versed in investments. Thank you in advance.

Have a nice day!

married: 34 with 2 young toddlers
HDB flat worth $400k, loan 250k
Combined Cash + stocks $180k
Combined CPF OA & SA:$30k
No car

Are we considered little saving? Thanks

The more important question is are you happy with your life? Are you happy with your work and how your career is progressing?

If you are happy, dont go and compare here and there. There will always be someone doing better than you. The quickest way to destroy happiness is to compare with others and find that they are doing better, are richer, have nice cars, big homes, travel business class and have special privileges.

I have a colleague who was so happy receiving his bonus that he gave his other colleagues a treat only to find out later that among the 5 of them, all the others have higher bonuses. He immediately became moody and angry.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

married: 34 with 2 young toddlers
HDB flat worth $400k, loan 250k
Combined Cash + stocks $180k
Combined CPF OA & SA:$30k
No car

Are we considered little saving? Thanks

I own a flat worth $400k, mortgage remaining $200k.
My cash and cpf in total, $100k.
Is this ok? I am 35.