Housing on the rise!!!

Recently there has been much debate about whether prices of housing in Singapore have become too expensive. I personally feel that it is too expensive but I do not believe that there will be a correction in the near future. (I do hope there will be one though as I am personally looking to purchase a unit) One sticking point is that there are too many foreigners and permanent residents pushing the prices up north. Everyone has to have a say on this issue and so do I. It must be noted that I am giving a personal opinion and not a professional one.

Our government will have a specific population goal that they will target. It may or may not be what is declared to the press but I believe that they do. I believe that they targeted the Singapore population to hit about 5 million sometime in 2010-2012. The thing is that Singaporeans in general are not helping the government's plan. Due to the high cost of bringing up children, Singaporeans do not give birth to sufficient babies to hit the government's population target. The easiest way to alleviate this situation would be to import foreigners. Foreigners who could contribute to the economy would help the country move prosper economically. The thing about this would be that the government is substituting an infant with an adult. An infant would demand for housing in 20-35 years time but an imported adult would need to settle his lodging from the moment he stepped foot in Singapore. This increase in demand is not organic and was not anticipated and perhaps overlooked.

Moreover, this increase in the demand for residential housing coincided with the building of the 2 integrated resorts and the shortage of raw materials needed to build residential housing for the increased demand. Planners perhaps overlooked this aspect as well. In times of extreme prosperity, even planners seem to overlook that excess demand for raw materials could result in a shortage and thus made no contingency for if raw materials like sand and steel became more scarce.

Yes foreign workers have contributed to our nations growth and they should be given due credit. However, the state should not neglect the basic needs of it's citizens in it's pursuit for greater prosperity. Yes housing is still affordable if you compare it as a single entity that eats into a person's take home pay. However once you add in other expenditures like food, education and leisure, Singapore is becoming an increasingly difficult place to live in. I am one for a better quality of life and I believe that we as a country are spending too much of our income on housing repayments. So much so that I feel that our quality of life has taken a serious beating.

Yours Sincerely,
Daryl Lum