By Paul Ho (Guest Contributor)

On March 10 2014, the Ministry of National Development (MND) issued new rules on HDB resale procedures. As usual, the headline is almost the same: “A stable housing market, better homes for all.” How ironic!

Over the following two months, we have observed how this new rule has affected the market, and will share our views in this article.

Overview of the past practices and current rules

Here is an overview of the property purchase process under the old system and the current rules:

Before March 10 2014

• Property sellers obtain a valuation report
• The property buyer and seller agree on a price based on the valuation, i.e. cash over valuation, at valuation or under valuation. For example if a unit is valued at $350,000, if buyers and sellers agree on $20,000 above valuation, the transacted price will be $370,000.
• The buyer ...