Even with HDB income ceilings raised ($14,000 per month for new flats and $16,000 per month for Executive Condominiums), there’ll always be a group of sandwiched Singaporeans who’ll feel trapped.
These are the ones who earn too much to buy a flat, but too little to comfortably buy a condo. Frankly, it’s quite a strange position to be in – you are in a comfortable enough situation that you can’t complain (or get scolded by others who say you should be content), yet you can barely reach the rungs of the private property ladder.
I recently covered a rent vs buy scenario for this sandwiched group.
But here’s another dilemma confronting this not-rich, not-poor crowd:
(1) Buy a resale flat first, hold it for five years, and then upgrade to a condo, or
(2) Buy a smaller new launch condo now, and then sell it and upgrade to a bigger one after it’s complete...