NETIZEN ASKS WHY S’POREANS SO OBSESSED WITH CONDOS, SCRIMP & SAVE JUST TO BUY ONE

Why are singaporeans so obsessed with condos?

Was attending a friend’s housewarming in their new bto flat recently. They have just settled in but are already discussing about upgrading to a condo once their MOP is up.

Kinda reminds me of my relatives during every CNY gathering and some colleagues at my workplace who often talk about getting condos.

They can cut back on other spending and saving hard just to afford to buy condos. Even those who are already staying in condos want to upgrade to a better condo.

Why do singaporeans love condos so much?

Netizens’ comments

1. Speaking as someone who moved from her parent’s condo to her BTO, I have no clue. My 4 room HDB is legitimately bigger than my parent’s place. The facilities are nice the first few months you move in but once you lose interest (or never had it) in swimming, gymming, playing tennis or whatever, it holds no value to you, so it’s just a smaller place albeit with a balcony.
2. Cant speak for all, but for some it is ingrained from young that it is the natural progression of “success”.
   When we are constantly being expose with the beauty of 5Cs and how our lives will improve by having them, it is no surprise that we subconsciously associate it to be something that we must have in the future.
3. Status symbol, personal goal of “success”, thinking it’s risk-free money because “property always go up”.
   Maybe some love the facilities and some love arguing with security. Who knows?
   Not all Singaporeans share that tho. I know of rich people with “landed” money but stayed in HDBs.
4. its a circus- cannot afford landed, next in love is condo, never mind of you have to scrimp & save and cut back on everything else
5. It stems from a typical view of wealth accumulation. You won’t ever get such a sizeable bank loan at such interest rates for a similar investment return outside of home loans. Also, you get to cash out on housing subsidies depending on prices.
   Approximately, home loans of a few hundred thousand is now at 3.75% EIR (basically near inflation rate), while personal and sme loans for the same amount is 7-8+% and 8-9+% EIR respectively. Home loans are offered at lower rates due to a combination of government lending and policies that other loans do not benefit from. Property ownership is especially important in Asian cultures and government policies reflect that.
   Not that everyone weigh such options themselves, its more of monkey see monkey do and most people think about it superficially.