SINGAPOREANS can expect the prices of HDB flats to keep on rising as long as the economy continues to grow, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said yesterday.
However, he assured young couples that the Government will help them to own their first flats.
The Housing Board will also keep building affordable homes ’so that each generation of Singaporeans will continue to have a stake in the nation’, he added.
Mr Lee gave the assurance when he visited the newly-completed crown jewel of Singapore’s public housing, which he said is symbolic of the spectacular transformation of the country.
The Pinnacle@Duxton, rising 50 storeys high, stands on a plot that was occupied by the first rental blocks in Tanjong Pagar constituency, of which Mr Lee has been the MP for 54 years.
Yesterday, he recalled how he used the two Duxton Plain blocks then under construction in his 1963 election campaign, when the leftists were determined to win his seat.
‘I said: ‘If you vote for me, these will be completed and will be yours’. If not, the Barisan Sosialis will win and you will have a bleak future.’
Such blocks were built in the 1960s as a quick fix for Singapore’s rapidly-growing population who were ‘living in overcrowded shophouses or squatter huts’.
‘People were poor and life was hard. No running water, no modern toilets, no expectation of a better future,’ said Mr Lee in a speech that traced the ‘breathtaking’ transformation of Singapore’s housing landscape since the 1960s.
Later, he told reporters that the direction of HDB home prices depends on the people.
If they have confidence in the country and support the Government, then prices ‘must go up’ as they have every year since 1965, he said, in response to reporters asking what he would say to young couples lamenting the sharp price increases in recent years.
The alternative, Mr Lee said, is grim.
‘They’ve got to decide if the country is going to go up or go down. If the country is going to go down, then the economy will go down, people’s incomes will be down, unemployment will be up and property values will go down.’
In the last 45 years, HDB home prices have soared. For instance, a three-room flat in Queenstown in 1964 cost $6,200, but would fetch at least $200,000 today.
However, much of the increase in prices has taken place in the past few years.
In his speech, Mr Lee also dwelt on the many benefits of a home-owning society, which had its roots in the policy introduced in 1964.
It gave a community of immigrants a sense of rootedness in Singapore, he said, adding: ‘It is the foundation upon which nationhood was forged.’
Owning their homes also gives people a pride that is critical in preventing housing estates ‘from turning into slums, which is often the fate of public housing estates in other countries’, he said.
But the key advantage is that the policy gives people ‘a tangible stake in worth’ and motivates them to work hard.
‘If Singapore prospers, their flat values will appreciate and they share in the growth,’ he said.
He added: ‘If all the 900,000 HDB flats built over the past 50 years were rental flats… We would not have the stability, progress and prosperity that a stake in home ownership of a growing asset has made possible.’
As assets, HDB homes have become more valuable partly because their prices have moved in tandem with the economy, thus allowing citizens to share in the fruits of growth, said Mr Lee.
This can be seen in the high demand for the flats at the Pinnacle@Duxton, he said.
It has 1,848 flats. At the first launch in 2004, its four-room flats cost an average $335,000 and the five-room flats, 395,000. This year, the HDB priced these same-sized flats at an average of $486,000 and $590,000 respectively.
Mr Lee described the building of the Pinnacle as ‘a strong testament to our tenacity and capabilities as a people’.
‘I see more and more of these old blocks being demolished, and new blocks like the Pinnacle being built,’ he added.
‘We could easily have sold (the Duxton plot) and then a condominium would have stood in its place.
‘But it would not have the same effect because here, we have kept the HDB residents in place, so we are sharing the growth of the city with the people who are of that class who built the city. We could have maximised the value by selling it off, and then a condo would have been built. We didn’t do that.’
MM Lee on the Pinnacle@Duxton’s special location in the city centre.
Source : Straits Times – 14 Dec 2009
Showing posts with label The Pinnacle at Duxton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Pinnacle at Duxton. Show all posts
Monday, December 14, 2009
Higher prices for Pinnacle reflect strong demand: MM
Young couples will get govt aid in fulfilling dream of home ownership
THE higher prices for The Pinnacle@Duxton during its second launch were a function of strong demand for the units, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said yesterday.
‘Even though prices of the flats at the second launch in 2008 were higher, the demand for the flats was still very strong. The higher prices reflect the demand for the flats; they reflect the market demand,’ said Mr Lee during his speech at the key handover ceremony for The Pinnacle@Duxton.
The 50-storey Pinnacle@Duxton was first launched in May 2004. Some of the remaining units were re-launched in September 2008.
Then, 111 five-room flats were put up for sale at $545,000 to $645,800. Even then, there were 372 applicants.
When the project was first launched in 2004, in a lukewarm property market, four-room flats started at $289,200 while five-room flats were offered for up to $439,400.
Mr Lee also emphasised the importance of pricing Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats differently to reflect their true values.
‘We cannot price a new flat in Punggol or Tanjong Pagar the same because when they are re-sold, we know there will be a tremendous difference in price,’ he said.
‘From the 1980s, we moved towards a market-based system. By liberalising the resale market and allowing HDB prices to move in tandem with the economy, we unlocked the value of HDB flats to allow citizens to share in the fruits of the nation’s growth. Home ownership of a HDB flat is a store of value that can be monetised when need be.’
Even so, Mr Lee warned against flipping HDB flats for a quick profit.
‘The rules on minimum occupation and requirement for family nucleus are to discourage speculative purchases. We expect flats will continue to appreciate as long as we develop and grow our economy.’
In response to the possibility of young couples lamenting rising property prices, Mr Lee said: ‘Well, they have got to decide if the country is going to go up or go down. If the country is going to go down, then the economy will go down and their incomes will be down – unemployment will go up and property values will come down.
‘If they have confidence in Singapore, in working with the government, then it must go up as it has gone up every year since 1959 or since 1965.’
Mr Lee also made it clear that young couples will receive government assistance in fulfilling their dream of home ownership.
‘Young couples will receive sufficient help from the government to own their first flats. HDB will continue to build affordable homes of good quality, so that each generation of Singaporeans will continue to have a stake in the nation.’
The Pinnacle@Duxton development, which is the island’s tallest public housing development, features 12 sky bridges that link all seven of the blocks.
The sky bridges will be accessible from Jan 1.
The 26th storey sky bridge will be exclusive to residents who will also have access to the 50th storey sky bridge.
The public will have to pay $5 by EZ-Link or Cepas-compliant cards to access the 50th-storey sky bridge.
The development also includes amenities such as a food court, childcare centre, basketball court and an 800-metre jogging track.
In total, The Pinnacle@Duxton houses 1,848 flats.
Construction has since been completed, with the exception of some minor site works, such as landscaping.
Source : Business Times – 14 Dec 2009
THE higher prices for The Pinnacle@Duxton during its second launch were a function of strong demand for the units, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said yesterday.
‘Even though prices of the flats at the second launch in 2008 were higher, the demand for the flats was still very strong. The higher prices reflect the demand for the flats; they reflect the market demand,’ said Mr Lee during his speech at the key handover ceremony for The Pinnacle@Duxton.
The 50-storey Pinnacle@Duxton was first launched in May 2004. Some of the remaining units were re-launched in September 2008.
Then, 111 five-room flats were put up for sale at $545,000 to $645,800. Even then, there were 372 applicants.
When the project was first launched in 2004, in a lukewarm property market, four-room flats started at $289,200 while five-room flats were offered for up to $439,400.
Mr Lee also emphasised the importance of pricing Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats differently to reflect their true values.
‘We cannot price a new flat in Punggol or Tanjong Pagar the same because when they are re-sold, we know there will be a tremendous difference in price,’ he said.
‘From the 1980s, we moved towards a market-based system. By liberalising the resale market and allowing HDB prices to move in tandem with the economy, we unlocked the value of HDB flats to allow citizens to share in the fruits of the nation’s growth. Home ownership of a HDB flat is a store of value that can be monetised when need be.’
Even so, Mr Lee warned against flipping HDB flats for a quick profit.
‘The rules on minimum occupation and requirement for family nucleus are to discourage speculative purchases. We expect flats will continue to appreciate as long as we develop and grow our economy.’
In response to the possibility of young couples lamenting rising property prices, Mr Lee said: ‘Well, they have got to decide if the country is going to go up or go down. If the country is going to go down, then the economy will go down and their incomes will be down – unemployment will go up and property values will come down.
‘If they have confidence in Singapore, in working with the government, then it must go up as it has gone up every year since 1959 or since 1965.’
Mr Lee also made it clear that young couples will receive government assistance in fulfilling their dream of home ownership.
‘Young couples will receive sufficient help from the government to own their first flats. HDB will continue to build affordable homes of good quality, so that each generation of Singaporeans will continue to have a stake in the nation.’
The Pinnacle@Duxton development, which is the island’s tallest public housing development, features 12 sky bridges that link all seven of the blocks.
The sky bridges will be accessible from Jan 1.
The 26th storey sky bridge will be exclusive to residents who will also have access to the 50th storey sky bridge.
The public will have to pay $5 by EZ-Link or Cepas-compliant cards to access the 50th-storey sky bridge.
The development also includes amenities such as a food court, childcare centre, basketball court and an 800-metre jogging track.
In total, The Pinnacle@Duxton houses 1,848 flats.
Construction has since been completed, with the exception of some minor site works, such as landscaping.
Source : Business Times – 14 Dec 2009
Two families returning to Duxton
ONE of the first homes of Mr Venketroyalu Deenathayalu’s parents was a two-room flat they rented in Duxton Plain in 1968.
He was to follow in their footsteps about 35 years later when he rented a flat in the same area after his marriage.
Today, the 38-year-old project manager is the proud owner of a four-room HDB flat in the same neighbourhood, living in Singapore’s tallest and most distinctive public housing project: the Pinnacle@Duxton.
He was among seven first-time homeowners who received the keys to their flats from Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, their MP, yesterday.
However, the HDB said Mr Venketroyalu’s family and another – the Tay siblings – are believed to be the only Pinnacle@Duxton flat owners to have previously lived in the two rental blocks that once occupied the same plot.
The project is the pride and joy of the Housing Board, which holds it up as a model of how the HDB has strived to improve the quality and design of its homes since it was set up 49 years ago.
The old rental blocks, launched in 1963, had 334 flats but the Pinnacle has 1,848 four and five-room flats, built for an affluent, home-owning population.
Within minutes of taking the first peek at his new home on the 24th floor, Mr Venketroyalu and his family were welcoming MM Lee into their flat.
Mr Venketroyalu’s 63-year-old mother, Mrs Susilabai Deenathayalu, said: ‘It’s an honour to see my old MP after 40 years.’
She and her husband’s rental home in Duxton was a two-room flat on the eighth floor, with a view of the city.
When her son married in 2002, he and his wife, housewife Venkatesan Hema, now 33, stayed at the flat.
But they all had to leave the following year, as the area was earmarked for redevelopment.
Yesterday, as Mr Venketroyalu’s six-year-old daughter, Tejaswini, excitedly checked out each room, he said: ‘Many of our friends and relatives have already asked when they can come and have a look.’
Equally thrilled are the Tays, on the 18th storey of a nearby block.
Freelance tutor Tay Poh Choo, 35, and her brother, engineer Tay Peck Seng, 41, lived in Duxton for 20 years, with their parents and three siblings, after moving from Jalan Membina in 1984.
Over the years, their three siblings married and moved out and their parents died, while the pair were relocated before the flats were demolished.
Ms Tay cited the Pinnacle’s central location, its proximity to Chinatown, an array of 24-hour food outlets and a host of childhood memories as factors that pulled her back to the neighbourhood.
The Pinnacle’s seven blocks are linked by skybridges on the 26th and 50th floors. There is an 800m jogging track on the 26th floor and a huge sky garden on the roof, with views of the harbour and much of Singapore.
Only residents can use the track, but the top floor will be open to the public, for a $5 fee. Only 200 can go up each day.
Madam Venkatesan, who used to be captivated by the city view from her old flat, noted wistfully that her new home faces the other direction.
‘But there’s always the view from the corridor,’ she added.
And, of course, the skybridges.
Source : Straits Times – 14 Dec 2009
He was to follow in their footsteps about 35 years later when he rented a flat in the same area after his marriage.
Today, the 38-year-old project manager is the proud owner of a four-room HDB flat in the same neighbourhood, living in Singapore’s tallest and most distinctive public housing project: the Pinnacle@Duxton.
He was among seven first-time homeowners who received the keys to their flats from Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, their MP, yesterday.
However, the HDB said Mr Venketroyalu’s family and another – the Tay siblings – are believed to be the only Pinnacle@Duxton flat owners to have previously lived in the two rental blocks that once occupied the same plot.
The project is the pride and joy of the Housing Board, which holds it up as a model of how the HDB has strived to improve the quality and design of its homes since it was set up 49 years ago.
The old rental blocks, launched in 1963, had 334 flats but the Pinnacle has 1,848 four and five-room flats, built for an affluent, home-owning population.
Within minutes of taking the first peek at his new home on the 24th floor, Mr Venketroyalu and his family were welcoming MM Lee into their flat.
Mr Venketroyalu’s 63-year-old mother, Mrs Susilabai Deenathayalu, said: ‘It’s an honour to see my old MP after 40 years.’
She and her husband’s rental home in Duxton was a two-room flat on the eighth floor, with a view of the city.
When her son married in 2002, he and his wife, housewife Venkatesan Hema, now 33, stayed at the flat.
But they all had to leave the following year, as the area was earmarked for redevelopment.
Yesterday, as Mr Venketroyalu’s six-year-old daughter, Tejaswini, excitedly checked out each room, he said: ‘Many of our friends and relatives have already asked when they can come and have a look.’
Equally thrilled are the Tays, on the 18th storey of a nearby block.
Freelance tutor Tay Poh Choo, 35, and her brother, engineer Tay Peck Seng, 41, lived in Duxton for 20 years, with their parents and three siblings, after moving from Jalan Membina in 1984.
Over the years, their three siblings married and moved out and their parents died, while the pair were relocated before the flats were demolished.
Ms Tay cited the Pinnacle’s central location, its proximity to Chinatown, an array of 24-hour food outlets and a host of childhood memories as factors that pulled her back to the neighbourhood.
The Pinnacle’s seven blocks are linked by skybridges on the 26th and 50th floors. There is an 800m jogging track on the 26th floor and a huge sky garden on the roof, with views of the harbour and much of Singapore.
Only residents can use the track, but the top floor will be open to the public, for a $5 fee. Only 200 can go up each day.
Madam Venkatesan, who used to be captivated by the city view from her old flat, noted wistfully that her new home faces the other direction.
‘But there’s always the view from the corridor,’ she added.
And, of course, the skybridges.
Source : Straits Times – 14 Dec 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
HDB flat value will rise as long as economy grows: MM Lee
Public flats will continue to appreciate in value as long as the Singapore economy continues to grow. And with limited space, the future of public housing looks set to go up – with more skyscraper flats to be built.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said this as he launched The Pinnacle@Duxton, which at 50 storeys, is the tallest HDB development in Singapore.
The first rental HDB blocks in Tanjong Pagar were built in 1963 on the site where The Pinnacle@Duxton stands. Today, it is the site of the tallest HDB in the country and the scene has changed significantly.
Minister Mentor Lee attributes the change to an early policy decision to build a home-owning society, which is what motivates Singaporeans to upgrade this asset for a better life, something which could not have happened with just rental flats.
Going forward, Mr Lee expects more such flats to be built.
He said: “The Pinnacle@Duxton is therefore a good example that if the nation continues to do well, we can build more flats of this standard. But we should not make a quick profit from a resale of HDB flats. The rules on minimum occupation and requirement for family units nucleus are to discourage speculative purchases.”
Mr Lee gave out keys to seven of the first families to move in and visited one family, whose father had rented a flat in the area previously.
Speaking to reporters later, he said the government could have built a condominium in its place but preferred to build public flats in this central area and share the growth of the city with the people who had rented flats in the area before.
Responding to questions later on about young couples who are concerned about flat affordability, Mr Lee said this is linked to the country’s growth – if the country is doing well, property prices go up.
But if the economy goes down, unemployment goes up but incomes and property values decline.
One thing that will be going up is the height of future public housing.
Mr Lee said: “Well, it’s a very special problem we face because we can’t expand the city naturally, we have to expand the city vertically. Yes, we can have more (land) reclamations but that’s only about 10, 15 per cent and we’ve reached the limit. Therefore, I see more and more of the old blocks being demolished and new blocks like The Pinnacle@Duxton being built.”
Units at The Pinnacle@Duxton cost an average of $486,000 for a 4-room flat and $590,000 for a 5-room flat, when the last of the units were released in October.
The 50th-storey skybridge will also be open to non-residents for a $5 fee.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 13 Dec 2009
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said this as he launched The Pinnacle@Duxton, which at 50 storeys, is the tallest HDB development in Singapore.
The first rental HDB blocks in Tanjong Pagar were built in 1963 on the site where The Pinnacle@Duxton stands. Today, it is the site of the tallest HDB in the country and the scene has changed significantly.
Minister Mentor Lee attributes the change to an early policy decision to build a home-owning society, which is what motivates Singaporeans to upgrade this asset for a better life, something which could not have happened with just rental flats.
Going forward, Mr Lee expects more such flats to be built.
He said: “The Pinnacle@Duxton is therefore a good example that if the nation continues to do well, we can build more flats of this standard. But we should not make a quick profit from a resale of HDB flats. The rules on minimum occupation and requirement for family units nucleus are to discourage speculative purchases.”
Mr Lee gave out keys to seven of the first families to move in and visited one family, whose father had rented a flat in the area previously.
Speaking to reporters later, he said the government could have built a condominium in its place but preferred to build public flats in this central area and share the growth of the city with the people who had rented flats in the area before.
Responding to questions later on about young couples who are concerned about flat affordability, Mr Lee said this is linked to the country’s growth – if the country is doing well, property prices go up.
But if the economy goes down, unemployment goes up but incomes and property values decline.
One thing that will be going up is the height of future public housing.
Mr Lee said: “Well, it’s a very special problem we face because we can’t expand the city naturally, we have to expand the city vertically. Yes, we can have more (land) reclamations but that’s only about 10, 15 per cent and we’ve reached the limit. Therefore, I see more and more of the old blocks being demolished and new blocks like The Pinnacle@Duxton being built.”
Units at The Pinnacle@Duxton cost an average of $486,000 for a 4-room flat and $590,000 for a 5-room flat, when the last of the units were released in October.
The 50th-storey skybridge will also be open to non-residents for a $5 fee.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 13 Dec 2009
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Market-based pricing of flats fairer to all
Source : Straits Times - 11 Nov 2008
RECENT letters have raised questions about the prices of HDB flats (’Disclosing take-up rates will help buyers’, Oct 18; ‘Pricing puzzle’, Oct 18; and ‘High property prices affect us all’, Nov 1).
The writers have referred to the prices of flats at Pinnacle@Duxton as well as recent Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) projects.
We would like to point out that HDB offers a whole range of flats, starting from $77,000. The flats in Pinnacle@Duxton and the DBSS are at the top of the range, and form less than 8 per cent of the total flat supply offered in the period 2006 to 2008. Their relatively high prices reflect their market value in terms of location and interior finishes. Even though they are pricier than most other new HDB flats, they remain affordable to those at the higher end of the $8,000 income eligibility band. For example, the most expensive Pinnacle@Duxton flat at $645,800 requires a debt-servicing ratio (DSR) of 29 per cent for a household with monthly income of $8,000, which is within the affordability benchmark of 30 per cent.
Public housing caters to over 80 per cent of the population in Singapore. Therefore, HDB builds flats with a range of prices, locations and attributes to cater to the different needs and budgets of different flat buyers. On their part, flat buyers should exercise financial prudence and buy flats within their financial means.
Two of the letters compare the selling prices of the Pinnacle@Duxton flats against its earlier launch prices and asked about the cost of the flats. Such comparisons are not meaningful as HDB takes a market-based approach in pricing its flats. The new flats are sold according to what they would fetch on the open market, but with a generous discount which is the subsidy that buyers enjoy. When the market goes up, HDB prices also move up. But when the market goes down, new flat prices are reduced. In the late 1990s after the Asian Financial Crisis, the property market suffered a severe downturn. HDB followed the market and moved prices downwards. In Sengkang, for example, the average prices of some five-room and executive flats were up to 30 per cent lower in 2005 than when they were first offered for sale in 1997 to 1998.
We thank the writers for their feedback.
Ignatius LourdesamyActing Deputy Director (Marketing & Projects)for Director (Estate Administration & Property)Housing & Development Board
Monday, November 10, 2008
MM Lee believes property values will continue to rise in long term
Source : Channel NewsAsia - 9 Nov 2008
VIPs including Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had the chance to tour The Pinnacle@Duxton on Sunday, and they were impressed by what they saw.
All seven blocks at The Pinnacle are linked by sky-bridges.
On the top-most 50th storey is a sky garden with breathtaking views of the cityscape. HDB names it “The Contemplative Zone”.
On the 26th storey, there is an 800-metre long jogging track as well as fitness centres.
The Pinnacle has the highest HDB blocks in Singapore. Prices are similarly high for late buyers.
When it went on sale in 2004, 4-room flats cost $288,400 to $392,100 and 5-roomers cost $343,100 to $451,100.
428 units were offered for sale in September 2008, and this time 4-room flats cost $450,000 to $550,000 while 5-room flats cost $550,000 to over $600,000.
The Pinnacle has 1,848 units in total.
HDB says the flats still cost less than what nearby flats are fetching on the resale market.
5-room flats in the vicinity cost $593,000 to $670,000.
Minister Mentor Lee said property values are bound to go up in the long run because the government is continuously building more infrastructure and attracting higher-value investments that provide higher wages to employees.
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