Daily Briefing: Office rents down 1.4% in Q4; HDB launches 4,170 new flats

And which HDB type can you buy from your monthly wage?

Singapore emerged as the 5th most expensive office market in the Asia Pacific during the last quarter of 2015, despite recording quarter-on-quarter rental drop of 1.4 percent, according to the latest report from JLL. At the same time, capital values in the city-state dipped by 3.0 percent on a quarterly basis amidst the weak leasing demand and the worries over the interest rate hike in the United States. Read more here.

In the first Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise of 2016, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) launched 4,170 new flats for sale on Wednesday (24 Feb). Spread across three projects located in the non-mature estates of Bukit Batok and Sengkang, and the mature estate of Bidadari, they make up the first batch of 18,000 flats that will be launched this year, said the HDB. Find out more here.

Recalling how Minister of Home Affairs & Minister for Law, Mr. K Shanmugam mentioned about the unrealistic real estate goals of young Singaporeans, we pondered about what is the dream home we can afford given our current wage levels. With the Mortgage Servicing Ratio (MSR) being brought down from 40% to the current level of 30%, we have to consistently be mindful of how our wage levels will determine the type of dwelling we are able to afford. Read more here.