More home owners holding on to their HDB flats

More home owners are holding on to their HDB flats, reversing a trend that had been rising in the past four years.

According to data from the Housing Board yesterday, the percentage of home owners who sold their property within the year after it hit the five-year minimum occupation period (MOP) was 11.8 per cent last year.

It had been climbing steadily, from 4.3 per cent in 2008 to 18.3 per cent in 2011. These figures are for flats bought directly from the HDB.

Property analysts say the drop can be attributed to various factors, chief among them being sky-high private property prices that deter HDB upgraders, and restrictions incurred after selling a flat.

Resale HDB flat prices went up 6.6 per cent last year, while private home prices increased by 2.8 per cent.

Since August 2010, private property owners have been required to sell their existing property if they wanted to buy an HDB resale flat.

But HDB owners who have fulfilled their MOP are allowed to purchase a private property and hold on to both at the same time.

That round of measures in 2010 also revised the MOP for letting out a flat from three years to five years.

In tandem, the number of flats being sublet out also dipped last year, according to the HDB.

Some 3.1 per cent of home owners let out their flats last year, compared with 4.8 per cent in the year before.

Source: The Straits Times –18 February 2013