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Ideal House package actually not attractive at all. Comes with restrictions like must top up for excess area and can only chose the cheaper tiles. When I got a quote from them, my kitchen cabinet only 18 ft but no rebate( package is 20 ft), yet they want to charge $800 for extra area (100 odd sq ft) for kitchen wall tiles. Other things like tiling for corridor steps at entrance, boxing up of pipes, etc.....other Ids/contractors throw in FOC, they not only want to charge but also quoted quite high. I feel ID house is over-rated. Out of the 5 quotes I got, Ideal House is the most expensive, with no value added services like design and cost savings ideas. Maybe it is because I did not speak to the venerable Mr K. Just walk in their shop one evening and anyhow get a quote from the person that happened to be there. Needless to say, I did not choose them.

Ideal House(not Mr K) quoted me $850 for a concrete sink support and $280 for plywood doors. Another contractor quoted me $650 for the concrete support with the doors FOC as part of the 22 ft Kktchen cabinet package. Needlss to say, I went with the contractor. BTW, what is the reason you were advised not to do sink support?

In the short term, prices and rental will keep rising due to the supply/demand mismatch. This is despite the slew of measures introduced by govt like new land sales, publishing more details new & sub-sales data, increasing development charge, and probably some more in the pipeline. In the mid term, when the new supplies hit the market, prices will stabilise if the economy continues to grow healthily. However, if any economic shock comes into the picture(eg, drastic China slowdown or US recession, major terrorist attacks,...), takeup rate will be low, prices could even fall below 2004/05 levels. This scenario looks very unlikely at the moment though. No point talking about the long term. As Keynes put it, in the long run, we are all dead. If it was up to me, I will advocate steady supplies to be added in a transparent manner (in the mold of Friedman monetarism) so that markets can anticipate and plan their activities accordingly. Constantly build all sorts of dwellings from 2/3 rooms flats to 4/5/exec flats to ECs/pte apts,/landed, fine-tuning only according to prevailing economic conditions and demand. Micro-manage will only exacerbate the boom/bust sequences, as has been the track record of our national planners. From 20,000+ empty HDB flats to the current shortage of mass market pte apartments, and the mass release of land that looks almost desperate. My take is that the rise will continue for the next 6-18 months, after which it should stabilise or even fall, depending on how things pan out. For those who need a place urgently,getting married, baby impending, newly landed FTs, just have to bite the bullet and pay the current market prices. For those who are not in a hurry, wait and a better deal may come along.

This is not criticism with the benefit of hindsight. Basic economics tell you that if you curb supply (freezing land sales and development) together with increased demand (opening our doors to foreign talents), it will lead to price spirals. This is a created artificial shortage. Yes, the correct decision in 2002 would have been for LTA to proceed with building a new HQ, so another unintended mistake was made. Our ministers are the most highly paid on this planet, surely it is not unreasonable to expect some foresight in their planning? After all, they have promised to deliver progress and prosperity to our nation.

Price increase is a good thing if it is accompanied by enhancement in functional utility and general increase in affordability from rising incomes. Creating an artificial shortage to jack prices/economic figures up is not good idea, as reality will eventually catch up. The bubble of the mid 90s provided no lessons?

Strategically planned? To achieve what purpose? The distortion caused to the markets affects both the foreign talents and the locals. Foreigners are priced out of the rental markets, locals are priced out of buying their dream homes, only a few minority property owners benefit from this crunch. Think govt also realised that this artificial shortage is no good for economy, that is why rush to release more land parcels, at the same time trying to talk down the price spikes. Problem is it takes time to put supply into the market, and short term shortage can get worse. Foreign talents and businesses will pack up and go home, while local populace will get even more disgruntled. Multi-million $ cabinet did not planned properly, where is the helicopter vision?

Since the Asian financial crisis 10 years ago, 1.By freezing land sales and not realeasing supply into the market, despite 70% of land owned by goverment. 2.By encouraging the influx of foreigners of all mold to work and set up businesses in Singapore. Obviously the combination of the 2 factors would leventually lead to a supply crunch, resulting in price spirals witnessed currently. Is this not a case of planning deficiency? Launching land sales now will not help in the short term, as it takes time for construction to be planned and completed. The capacity of the shrunk construction industry to handle this sudden increase in demand is also in doubt.