The latest cooling measures on 20th August 2024 had a target: to slow the rising prices of HDB flats. To this end, the maximum Loan To Value (LTV) ratio for HDB loans has now decreased to 75 per cent, down from 80 per cent previously. But how much of a difference does five percentage points really make? And from the word on the ground, there were some suggestions that the middle class is being marginalised in more ways than one: with lower-income brackets getting more generous grants while the loans they can take will fall, essentially being the most affected. How true is all of this? Are middle-class buyers being ignored? The most common argument is that the lower-income groups get bigger subsidies, and the higher-income groups have no problems paying existing prices – but the sandwiched people in the middle, especially the lower-middle, feel they’re getting little to no help....