发觉这里好像没有关于买房的帖子，而这个也许是很多留在这里工作的人都会经历的，前辈们的经验对我们来说一定会很有帮助的。

抛砖引玉，先问几个问题：

1。对于对未来是否会留在新加坡还不是很清楚的人来说，买房还是租房比较划？

2。hdb还是condo比较保值？还像有些condo的价格已经和hdb不是差别太大了，而显然condo的条件会好很多。

3。买了房如果将来要走，但是贷款还没有还清的话，该如何做？

先谢谢前辈的回答！

1. rent

3. sell it

香港的房产从低谷上去50-60%撩。新加坡的还基本上没动，这个开赌是重大利好。

1. Rent a house is a better option for me, why you want to take the risk (both interest risk and property market risk) if you are not sure you'll stay in S'pore for long? To buy a house, you also need to factor in the renovation and maintenance cost.

2. A lot of condo is not easily accessable, also you need to pay a higher management fee. If you only want to 保值, fixed deposit also achieves the same result.

3. You can sell it to pay back your mortgage or you can rent it out to collect rental and continue to pay back your mortgage.

I think the risk factors, namely, interest risk and property price risk, the first one can be hedged or diminished anyway, since the interest rate goes up, it's always a good deal to get a relatively lower rate mortage, in the case interest rate falls, it generally indicate a good state of the economy, so the price for rental will be higher, the money collected on monthly rental fee will compensate the loss of a higher mortage payment.

The only investment desicion should hence base on your expectation of the future real estate market and your financial plans, if as many analysts predict, there would be a rise in the real estate market, it might be a soundy choice to buy some properties, as long as you can afford. Carefully choose the location and the environment.

If the interest is rising, the bank will adjust your repayment upward as well, for example, DBS has already bumped up their mortgage rate for the third time this year, an average customer with 500K borrowing needs to pay additional 130$ per month. So house owners are definitely subject to interest rate hiking risk, because your interest rate is not fixed after the first 2 years.

And low interest rate -> good economy shape... err, I don't quite understand this point... Interest rate is high now, and economy is in recovery....

However, I do not dispute that generally people believe the trend of property price is going up in the next few years, but it is still speculating... Investors should balance all aspects and take into account their risk profile as well...

How much risk u r willing bear, how much return compensation u may probably get.
there is no free lunch.

Since I'm too much away from a pratitioner's side, I over-assumed that the mortgage payment rate would be based on a fixed rate basis, sorry about that, in the presence of a floating interest rate, the size of the movement and its correlation with the concurrent interest rate should be taken into account. Once the interest rate hikes, would the mortgage repayment rate rise for the same amount or same in a proportional measurement.

In a word, once working with interest rate, there is always a lot to be interlapped with government policy, I bid in local investment environment, no wild behavior should happen between interest rate and mortgage rate. In addition, the repayment plan for a mortgage loan should also be worked out before you take the loan, and should be updated with your ever-changing personal financial plans. Sometimes, in a foreseeable interest rate rise or a foreseeable rise in your personal income, early retirement of the mortgage could be taken into consideration.

Well, for the low interest rate and good economy indicator part, I think I jumped into the conclusion too abruptly. On one hand, a more flat low interest rate indicates low inflation, robust stock market, healthy economy in general. While applying to any specif market condition, this rule always neglect a lot of facts. When economy is in the curve of a recovery, interest rate should be higher, as it calls for reserve for the future. Remember sometimes in last recess, the interest rate is also low, as the government tried to stimulate the consuming, as most S'poreans or even Asians tend to be more conservative about saving, and less reluctant to spend in a glooming economy. so the interest rate may also work with a culture context, haha....

All analysis makes things complicated, as I believe, sometimes, when you invest you need a little bit more luck, if you still firmly stick to your own intelligence, better look over a longer time horizon, the accumulative returns would be more significant to predict.

becz you are not buying houses for long-term life plan comparing to people who decide to settle down here. The house is an investment rather than living necessity for you. In this case, the decision shall depend on your own financial balance and investment objective. Your asset size, monthly cash flow, current cash balance, your risk tolerance (long-term and mid-term) need to be considered.

It's belived that wealthier people are able to bear higher risk to achieve better return than most people do. If you have 1M cash/asset, an investment on an 400K house won't hurt much becz a 10% depreication only causes few perecent of your asset. But for most people with 100K, that 10% could means a lot.

YOu should bear in mind that you are using leverage becz the 80%-90% amortization portion is supported by banks. A property surge can benefit you a lot and a bubble can cost you much also.

I agree with Elephan's option (prefer rental than purchase) and keep cautious toward SG property investment becz the down payment will dry out my cash and the potential gain (monthly cash flow, potential upside in property) doesn't justify the risk (property downside risk, opportunity cost, interest risk and liquidity risk). For people who has larger cash asset and are bearable with larger risk, they can go ahead and buy.

To clarify one thing, the interest rate is more directly related to the money supply and demand than to economic prosperity. In recession, demand is weak and this usually makes interest rate down. and when ecomomics peak, strong demand will stimulate interest hike.

1。 关于买房还是租房，主要还是看个人的长期打算。我认识一些中年的朋友，很多买了第二套，第三套房子做投资，几年下来并没有转到什么钱。忙活几年都给银行打工了。几年前房价较高是主要因素。我个人感觉，如果自己不住，除非你有很多闲钱，买房并不是投资的佳手段（除非你对几年后房市大有信心）。如果自己接下来会在新住至少5年，买个房子就比较划算了。因为可以把省下的房租看成return.还有就是可以花CPF的钱。因为不花的话要等到PR　cancel或者55岁之后才能用。等30年以后，现在的100块钱就算加上利息也值不了几块钱了。

2。组屋和condo谁保值不绝对。不过个人感觉二手组屋升值潜力都不高。Condo free hold，999年，99年价格差别很大。那些10几20年的99年condo现在价格是不高，但是压在手里，10年之后更难。投资角度讲，买condo就要999或者free hold的。但是如果有好的deal，买到便宜的99年condo，renting的return就相对较高了。从renting角度看，目前的condo屋主每月cash flow大概都是负的，但是HDB就有的赚。但是HDB renting需要更多regulation,不是随便可以租整套出去的。

3。将来要走，可以卖了房子清贷。也可以出租，用租金cover installment。不过买卖房子中介费，手续费都是开销，没那么好赚的。

鄙人认为，考虑买房问题的重中之重是人身安全问题。
举个例子，如果突然被车撞死了，那么买了房子，也没的住了。。。

其次是金钱问题，
如果没有钱，怎么买房？

第三是家具问题，
买了房，没有床，咋住？

我的发言完毕，抛砖引玉。

and you do need learn more from Mango...her post is much better...keke...