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Bertha HarianBertha Harian

Money

Not EC to understand

I am a little puzzled by this story on how Experts see ECs as a good buy.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Money/Story/STIStory_807976.html

What is the point of this story? That they are different from HDB flats – but we know that. That they get Government subsidy, different salary ceilings etc – we know that too. They are intended to be for the sandwich class – those priced out of HDB flats because of income ceiling but can’t yet afford private property. We know that. So why is it a good buy? Compared to what? Compared to when? Some statistics were given on how the value of ECs have gone up over the years – but so did HDB flats and private property. Are we saying that the rate of return is higher than for the other two types of property? If so, then I might consider them a “good buy”. But there are no statistics on this point.

In fact, the story goes on to have an expert “warning” that EC prices will NOT shoot up drastically in the near future. And not all recently launched ECs have done well. So why is it a good buy? Except to the developers of ECs?

Written By

An ex-journalist who can't get enough of the news after being in the business for 26 years

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