AFFORDABILITY OF PRIVATE CONDOMINIUMS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

This paper aims to study whether housing in Singapore, specifically private non-landed residential properties, is affordable for residents in Singapore. The rising property market has shown signs that the private non-landed resale Property Price Index (PPI) has been trending upwards, only falling by 0.6 index points after 28 months of consecutive increases (Toh, 2023). The main question to be answered is whether private non-landed housing in Singapore is unaffordable and expensive. Taking inflation into account, international data has also been studied to better understand if Singapore’s housing market is truly unaffordable on a local and international scale. A variety of secondary data sources were used from government bodies, such as the Ministry of Manpower to collect income statistics; the Federal Bank of Dallas to access international data; and Real Estate Information System (REALIS), a sub-portal of Urban Redevelopment Authority, for Singapore’s property market. The PPI and HPI indexes used help in showcasing the relation between housing prices and disposable income. The relative change is a necessary data point that demonstrates whether the change in housing price and disposable income is relative to inflation, proving if condominiums are affordable and expensive. Even though Singaporeans are generally getting richer, there is still a perception that housing is expensive in Singapore. While Singapore is a small country and affordability still does vary between planning regions, this study aims to understand to what extent this perception holds true.