Pricing of HDB flats

Suppose you come from an average household, with an average income of $5000 a month. I shall use the average income which is higher instead of the median, which stands at $3600, just for argument's sake.

Suppose you and your wife want to have an average family. 2 children. A $350,000 HDB flat. Your dream of a happy family. Will $5000 a month suffice?

Of your $5000 monthly salary, 34.5% of it will go to your CPF contribution. In addition, 4.33% will go to pay the tax man (based on a $60,000 annual salary). After such deductions, you would be left with a take home wage of $3060.

So now you decide to take a bank loan to purchase your dream home. A $350,000 bank loan at 4% interest for 30 years would mean a monthly repayment of $1671. Since you've completed your national service and spent 4 years to pursue your degree, you would probably be 26 years of age, you would be 56 years old by the time you paid off your loan.

To meet the minimum sum of $100,000 in your CPF account, assuming the retirement age is at 62, you would need to make sure a positive cash flow of $231.50 every month going into your CPF account. This means that of the $1725 that is suppose to go into your CPF account, $231.50 goes towards building up your minimum sum, $345 (20% of $1725) goes towards your medisave account, leaving a balance of $1148.50. Since your loan installment is $1671, after using the remainder $1148.50 to pay part of your installment, you would need to top that up with $522.50 from your take home wage of $3060, leaving you with $2537.50.

From that remaining $2537.50, you would need to deduct $200 for utility bills, $500 for transport ($125 per person in a family of 4), $1200 for food ($300 per person), $100 per month for doctor's fees. That would leave you with $537.50 per month. With that remaining sum of money, you still have to clothe your family, buy furniture, pay your children's school fees etc. And if your wife is working, you'd probably need to send your children to a childcare centre or hire a maid.

Mind you, we are not even talking about purchasing cars, overseas holidays, fancy laptops, luxury items. We are only talking about basic necessities. Doesn't it seem hard to make ends meet?

So is this the kind of life an average Singaporean drawing an average pay living in an average flat lives?

This should ought to make you wonder:

1) Why are Singaporeans willing to pay so much for their flats to the point they can't make ends meet? (We been told HDB prices are solely determined by market forces)

2) Who's the largest land owner in Singapore

3) Can the prices of HDB flats be rigged?

4) What's the motive in doing so?

5) Where does the money from HDB sales go to?

6) If HDB prices are high would private property prices be high as well?

7) Who are the ones that lose out?

8) Who are the ones that gain in such a situation?