Resale flat buyers hold back purchases until launch of new HDB portal

SINGAPORE — A month of house-hunting and 15 property viewings later, Mrs Lilibeth Loh, 29, and her husband finally decided on their new home on Christmas Day.

But with just six days to go before the Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) new resale portal goes live on Jan 1, the newly-weds — who are currently renting a three-room flat — held back signing the papers to secure their dream home in Marine Parade. 

Announced in October, the portal will be up-and-running at 1pm on the first day of 2018, HDB said at a media preview last week. It will halve the duration of the buying process from 16 weeks to eight weeks, and involve just one trip — instead of two — to the HDB offices. 

The prospect of a reduced hassle has seen some prospective homebuyers delaying their purchases, property agents and resale flat hunters told TODAY. 

Mrs Loh, who works as a restaurant service crew member, said: “I will only sign anything after Jan 1 (as) I hope to collect the keys by early March. Renovations are notorious for delays so the earlier we can get the keys, the better.”

With the lease for their rental home running out in June, she pointed out that the previous timeline — which could see them collecting the keys only in April — would be “very tight” for them.

The couple is buying the resale flat directly from the seller, without enlisting the services of property agents. Mrs Loh said she had asked the seller to sign an informal written agreement, in view of the delay before both sides sign the HDB’s Option to Purchase (OTP) form. 

Similarly, the property agents whom TODAY spoke with said some of their clients are holding back their purchases, even though they are all ready to sign the OTP form. 

LHG Properties agent Iris Wen Jing, 40, cited the example of her 35-year-old client — a single man currently living with his parents — who requested to do so in order to collect his keys faster via the new portal. 

Propnex Realty agents Bess Ting, 43, and Joelle Ng, 47, said they each have about five sets of buyers and sellers waiting to complete the transactions as soon as the new portal goes live. 

Once users log in to the new portal with their SingPass to register their intent, their personal details will be extracted from MyInfo, the Government’s digital identity vault, to fill application forms automatically.

They can then conduct various checks through the portal, including their eligibility to buy or sell a flat, apply for housing grants or a concessionary housing loan from HDB. The sale process begins once the buyer and seller sign the OTP form. 

Designed by the Government Technology Agency, the portal features a timeline which provides buyers and sellers with a clear overview of the sale process. To complete a transaction, a buyer and seller have to go through nine and six steps, respectively. 

An SMS will be sent to prompt buyers and sellers to continue their applications at stages that require inputs from HDB or the other party. For example, when HDB has verified the information provided following the submission of an application and the supporting documents. 

HDB group director of estate admin and property Tan Chew Ling said the portal harnesses transaction data to establish “the reasonableness of a transacted price”. As such, it will no longer be compulsory for every flat to undergo a valuation as a basis for determining the limits on the use of Central Provident Fund (CPF) or the home loan amount. “Nevertheless, where a valuation is assessed to be needed, it will still be done,” Ms Tan said.

The portal — which is accessible only in English — is expected to help the growing proportion of buyers and sellers who carry out transactions without engaging an agent. Noting the “clear and increasing” trend, the HDB said that 27 per cent of transactions in the first half of the year were made without an agent, compared to 11 per cent in 2010. “This upward trend could be due to the fact that resale flat buyers are generally younger and more tech savvy than resale flat sellers,” HDB said.

HDB said it consulted 20 homeowners and 10 representatives from the real estate industry while finalising the design of the platform.

Among those who gave feedback was LHG Properties key executive officer Lewis Ho who pointed out that a “substantial” amount of transactions, out of an average of 20,000 a year, involve seniors. These people who are not IT savvy “will require help with the technical aspect of the resale portal”, he said. Nevertheless, he felt that the portal has “simplified” the resale process. 

To help those who are computer illiterate, there will be a dedicated helpdesk with two counters set up on the second storey of HDB Hub in Toa Payoh, HDB said. The number of counters will be ramped up if necessary.

Apart from approaching the helpdesk, people who wish to learn more about the new resale process can pay S$25 to attend its regularly-held resale seminar, which will be conducted in English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil.

ERA Realty Network key executive officer Eugene Lim, who also did a user test, said initial hiccups could be expected for those without a Singpass or those who did not read the online instructions closely. Mr Nelson Lim, key executive officer of C&H Properties, suggested integrating more government agencies such as the CPF Board and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore on the platform. This would allow it to become the “entry point to access all relevant and related information necessary for the resale process”, he said.