The REAList

13/01/2022

“WAIT TO BUY” OR “BUY AND WAIT”? 2021 has been a good lesson for property buyers who waited on their purchases after seeing the news headline of the possibility of cooling measures 🥶 On hindsight, cooling measures only came in at the end of the year, with experts agreeing that impact on the residential market to be limited. In the meanwhile, private residential powered ahead (rising by >10%), as analysts expect further increase in price in 2022 despite cooling measures 🚀🚀🚀

THE REALIST believes that the continued strength in the market despite possibility of cooling measures is mainly due to buyers being accustomed to the measures meted out by SG Govt over the last decade. Many buyers/investors saw opportunities, while others saw risks. Those who took action last year were duly rewarded with some already in-the-money on their purchases. Investors or foreign buyers who bought last year also managed to escape the 5% to 10% increase in ABSD imposed by the latest cooling measures.

In this new year, THE REALIST seeks to help readers go beyond the headlines and explore the reality beneath… Stay tuned and hope you can support this budding page by following and sharing this page😊🙏

06/01/2022

Is buying resale HDB a prudent choice? Many of us would reckon that buying resale HDB amidst the delay in BTOs makes good financial sense considering that we do not stretch our pockets to fulfill our housing needs. Many would think that: “What works fine for our parents, who never have to worry about their retirement once they have gotten themselves a HDB, should work for us too!”

However, the hard truth is times have changed and we are facing very different circumstance as compared to our parents. HDB prices have hit a hard ceiling and may not have much room to run as the SG government are reining in our HDB prices to maintain affordability across the population. Furthermore, resale HDB have also aged significantly from our parents’ days, and some may soon be headed for depreciation in view of their depleting leasehold tenure. With all these in mind, we may want to put on a pair of new lenses to understand what we are getting ourselves into before committing to our property purchases.

As property purchases are big ticket purchases, THE REALIST would like to encourage everyone to start well by buying well. Any mistakes would potentially be costly and a cause for many worries… Should you require any help in planning your property purchase, feel free to DM THE REALIST to find out more😊

31/12/2021

Adios 2021… you have been quite a wild ride😣 for those of us feeling lost during this year end, let this be a reminder that regardless of what happened, we deserved a pat on our back for more than surviving 2021! We have made progress even when things haven’t turn out the way we expected. We are right where we need to be and may we have the courage to stay positive 💯for a new 2022! Jiayou everyone😊💪🏻

28/12/2021

Tale of the rapid increase in Additional Buyers’ Stamp Duty (ABSD)

REALISTIC View: ABSD not going to impact genuine homebuyers and hence impact on mass market going to be muted.

However, the Core Central Region, which demand comes mainly from (i) foreign buyers and (ii) investors with multiple residential properties. As such, the REALIST expects the CCR prices to cool slightly in 2022 with more realistic price expectations from sellers. This would present buying opportunities for homebuyers looking at owning a piece of CCR property, which otherwise have experienced intense competition from foreign buyers in 2021.

25/12/2021

Does the lowering of TDSR really have significant negative impact on the market price of residential properties in Singapore? Why does government lower TDSR instead of LTV? How does this lowering of TDSR affect me as a homebuyer? Follow THE REALIST to understand more than just the headlines of the recent cooling measures…

24/12/2021

December’s hottest topic in town is probably the latest cooling measures implemented by the Singapore Government to “cool” the SG residential market that was “on fire” since late 2020 despite the ongoing pandemic🔥 While the headlines definitely sparked much chatters in the market, THE REALIST seeks to plough through the details to provide a realistic view on what really is going on… stay tuned and merry Christmas everyone!🎄

23/12/2021

Coolinggggggg… not

21/12/2021

⭕️⚠️🟥 You have an invite

19/12/2021

17/10/2021

[Case Study Sunday] Another HDB unit sold by The Realist at record price at record speed. This unit is interesting as there were a couple of challenges facing it: (1) odd layout; (2) intense competition with 200+ 4-room units available in Punggol at the time of sale; (3) low transaction price due to competition; and (4) restrictions from Heightened Alert which limited the number of visitors/viewers. Nevertheless, The Realist is able to secured an offer at record price above the seller's expectation🙏😊