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As a point of comparison, average landed home prices (resale) in District 19, where Serangoon Gardens is located, was $1,853 psf as of July this year. Assuming a size of around 2,000 sq. ft., which is typical of landed homes near the Chomp Chomp area, that’s a quantum of around $3.7 million.  Of course, we need to take into account inflation and other factors; but notice the loan tenures: the idea of paying off a property in 15 years today is mainly in the realm of HDB flats. Most homeowners today take 20 to 25 years to pay off a private property; in some cases even longer.  As a purely anecdotal point of reference, I happen to know my grandfather’s income in 1963 – 65 was around $210 a month (an administrative job in some kind of shipping firm).  The smallest unit on the 15-year plan would be close to 40 per cent of his income: a tight stretch, but not impossible. Also, remember this would be on a single income – it was arguably possible for this sole breadwinner to purchase a landed home.  This isn’t some overarching claim that life was easier back then: I don’t know how much education, healthcare, food, etc. cost in that era, which would all be added factors. But it suggest that – affordability wise –  landed housing was less exclusive compared to today. Still far from cheap, but perhaps on par with buying a mid-range condo in 2024. Wouldn’t it be a dream if you could look at a property ad today, and immediately see the payment figures?  We’ve lost the ability to do this, because today there are no perpetual fixed-rate mortgages from banks. Even if you opt for a fixed-rate loan, it’s only really “fixed” for a certain number of years; after that, it reverts back to a floating rate. For that reason, we can’t accurately project how much you’ll pay each month for the loan, or the total interest you’ll end up paying. It all depends on how the rates change over time.  And while HDB loans are much less prone to change, they’re not actually fixed either. They’re set to 0.1 per cent above the CPF interest rate (so 2.6 per cent), and CPF interest rates are reviewed quarterly. So they’re not actually fixed, they just haven’t changed in a long time; but it’s the closest we have to a fixed rate. . The market was less regulated back then, and many of these ads allegedly used lower figures to lure in prospects. If that’s true, then I guess some things never change. There’s a whole bunch of articles we have planned, which we haven’t been able to execute; and some of these are the ones I’m always asked about. We have ideas like: You can probably see why some of these are tough to do. No one likes to give access to a house if we’re going to say it’s considered haunted, for example; and information on older properties like walk-ups, Tan Tong Meng Tower, etc. is near impossible to find, as they date back to the ‘70s and ‘80s. Any documentation has long since vanished. And as for things like renovation, giving you even ballpark figures is tough, due to the huge discrepancies in what people consider to be “basic” renovations.  But on the off-chance you feel you have an unusual property, or insight into any unique real estate projects, I’d be super grateful to hear from you! Do reach out to us at Stacked. Follow us on Stacked for reviews of new and resale properties, and on what’s happening in the Singapore property market