[back2HK]

Originally Posted by PDLM

What a ridiculous statement. Currently 49.2% of the Hong Kong population live in public housing provided by the Housing Authority.

Ah well.. I know that you are the authority on all topics in the universe..
But low income housing by Housing Authority in HK is a far cry from HDB housing in Singapore, which also has executive flats where a lot of the local middle class lives in.

But then, what do I know..

[PDLM]

The big difference between HK & Singapore is that Singapore controls most of the housing directly through HDB (over 80% of the population live in HDB housing) whereas in HK a bigger proportion is manipulated by the Government through the cartel of the big property developers (there are those who would say that in fact it is the property developers who manipulate the Government).

Nevertheless, the executive flats in Singapore constitute less than 7% of the total HDB housing stock ( http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10297p.nsf/ImageView/AR0506/$file/statistics-and-charts.pdf ) so is that really "a lot of the local middle class"?

But in any case, the question is moot since in the case of HA housing you need to be a Permanent Resident, and to own HDB housing a Singapore Citizen.

[freeier]

not true. for singapore you can be just a permanent resident and purchase (or technically lease for 94years or lesser) a HDB flat. not necessary a citizen.

there are also income ceiling on purchase of hdb flat for the locals, hosuehold income of 40k hkd per month is the limit.

[PDLM]

Please could you provide a link to support this assertion? This page: http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10201p....B?OpenDocument seems to me to be pretty explicit that only Singapore citizens can purchase HDB apartments.

[freeier]

look at the topic on the page:
"Policies - Eligibility Conditions to Buy a flat from HDB"

the difference is the purchase from HDB or from the secondary open market.
the price difference between the 2 could be around 10% for some, and even zero for others.

supposedly HDB gives subsidy to citizen buyers that makes it attractive for people to buy from them. but these days the difference is really diminishing and for many of us we wouldn't want to go thru the process of purchasing from hdb and wait for the flat for the selection process etc.etc.

let me see if there are other links:
http://www.hdb.gov.sg/__48257038002F...5001723B0?Open

[highfive]

Dear all,
compare singapore flats to Hong Kong Housing Authority flats, which one is cheaper,which country more expensive?
In singapore on average,3-room flat (700sq ft) cost about S$166,000
4-room flat(900 to 1000sq ft) cost about S$233,000.
5-room flat(1200 to 1500sq ft) cost about S$300,000.

How about in Hong Kong?
Just wanna find out which city is more expensive to live in interms of housing?

[PDLM]

But once a flat is in the resale market, why does it matter who the first owner was if the price is the same? The OP was asking if there were the equivalent of HDB flats in HK implying that this made some difference, but from what you're saying, HDB sells new apartments only to Singapore citizens at a discount, but once they enter the resale market it doesn't matter if it's HDB or private - the price is the same for the same specification...

Maybe I'm missing something here?

[freeier]

well, granted, strictly speaking, once the flat goes into the secondary market, there's nothing that distinct this flat from others that were sold original as a private apartment.

but in the first place, the term 'discount' from hdb is also quite a misnomer. the pricing of first hand hdb flat is quite market driven, and like said the pricing difference from the secondary market is not much different.

if you want to distinguish secondary and primary purchase of a hdb flat, then the 80% percentage of people staying in a flat purchased from hdb would probably be much much lower, I'd even guess in the tune of maybe just 40~50%, as most people have already sold their original hdb purchased flat and switched around at market prices.

[thjames]

you can always look up the approx rental cost at

www.gohome.com.hk