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Hundreds of public housing apartments in Singapore, one of the world's most expensive cities, are being sold for over one million Singapore dollars ($716,000) as COVID-related construction delays create a shortage of new units.

At least two units have surpassed the million-dollar mark in U.S. dollars, and the high prices are fuelling talk of new government measures to try to cool thriving property markets.

The Southeast Asian city-state's public housing system – which sells government-built apartment units directly to citizens on a 99-year lease - has led to over 80% of Singaporeans owning their homes, one of the world's highest rates.

Many units - known as Housing & Development Board (HDB) flats - are conveniently located near train stations and malls and cater to various socioeconomic groups.

As ownership is transferable to both citizens and permanent residents after five years, a resale market has emerged. Some apartments originally purchased for around S$500,000 are now fetching double that, depending on size and location.

The most expensive resale public flat - a spacious 122-square metre unit close to train stations and schools and with 92 years' lease left - sold this year for S$1.418 million.

For decades, Singaporeans have used their HDB flats for extra cash by renting them out or reselling at a profit.

"Million-dollar HDB flats are here to stay, as there will always be people who like to live in central locations or larger spaces," said Clarence Long, who brokered a 113-sqm public flat sale for S$1.4 million in May.

"If you're looking at private condo of similar size in the same location, the price could easily be S$2.5 million," Long said.

Unlike HDB flats, private condos in Singapore typically have security guards and facilities including swimming pools and gyms.

Most first-time public flat buyers can apply for government housing grants and loans, making them less affected by rising bank interest rates, and keen to exit the rental market that has also soared amid the pandemic. 

"The monthly mortgage for my HDB flat is about S$3,400, this is much cheaper as the rental for a similar flat now will be about S$5,000," said Rajiv Malhotra, 45, who bought a 94-sqm public flat for S$1.08 million last year.

The proportion of monthly income used for mortgage payments has for three years remained at about 23% on average for public flat buyers with government loans, the government said late last year.

RISING PRICES

Singapore's construction sector, heavily reliant on foreign labour, has experienced major disruptions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with tight supplies of materials also leading to delays.

Analysts expect tight supply to ease in early 2023.

While million-dollar flats are still less than 2% of total transactions, a record 259 public flats have been sold for S$1 million or more last year, official data shows, and there have already been about 230 by August this year.

Those finding the resale market unaffordable can seek to buy off-plan public flats directly from the government, known as HDB Built-To-Order (BTO) public flats, typically selling for about S$300,000 to S$700,000.

However, most popular BTO projects are overly subscribed and take around five years to complete construction, pushing many to the resale market.

When contacted by Reuters about any new cooling measures in the pipeline, HDB did not comment but referred to earlier government statements.

The Ministry of National Development said last month the government planned to ramp up supply of new BTO flats to meet demand.

Singapore announced cooling measures on property markets last December, including raising stamp duties and tightening loan limits and transaction volumes have seen some softening.

"There is a possibility that the government may consider another round of cooling measures given the rising prices in both public and private residential markets," said Christine Sun, the senior vice president of research & analytics at OrangeTee & Tie.

"But it won't be easy...because it's willing seller, willing buyer," Sun added. (Reuters)

Officials from the Group of 20 major economies meeting on Wednesday for climate talks in Bali have been unable to agree a joint communique, amid objections over language used on climate targets and the war in Ukraine, two sources told Reuters.

Indonesia's Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar had started the meeting by urging countries to cut emissions and prevent the planet from being pushed to a point "where no future will be sustainable".

But some countries, including China, had objected to previously agreed language in the Glasgow climate pact and past G20 agreements on efforts to limit global average temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius, said an official with knowledge of the meeting, declining to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

China's foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Another diplomatic source told Reuters there had been disagreements about language around climate and also references to the war in Ukraine.

Siti had earlier said she hoped a joint communique would be signed by the end of the day, but made no mention of it in her press conference later on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for Indonesia's environment ministry was not immediately available for comment on the matter.

The G20 climate meeting, hosted by this year's chair Indonesia, comes as extreme weather events - fires, floods and heat waves - pummel several parts of the world, including unprecedented flooding in Pakistan in recent weeks that has killed at least 1,000 people.

Scientists say most such extreme weather events are attributable to human-caused climate change and will only increase in severity and frequency as the globe edges closer to the warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Environment officials from Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, South Korea, and U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, were among those attending the talks in Bali, with more bilateral meetings expected on Thursday.

Indonesia as current G20 chair invited representatives from the African Union to join the talks for the first time, said Siti, adding that voices from all countries, regardless of their wealth and size, must be heard.

Also in attendance was Alok Sharma, president of last year's 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), who said the war in Ukraine had increased the urgency of a need to shift to renewable sources of energy. The COP27 climate summit will be held in Egypt this November.

"The current energy crisis has demonstrated the vulnerability of countries relying on fossil fuels controlled by hostile actors," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Climate security has become synonymous with energy security and the chronic threat of climate change is not going away," he said. (Reuters)

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said on Wednesday the agency's planned visit to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was a "technical mission" that aimed to prevent a nuclear accident.

The mission arrived earlier on Wednesday in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, 55 km (34 miles) away from the plant.

Asked about plans for a demilitarised zone at the plant, Grossi said that "this is a matter of political will".

"But my mission - I think it's very important to establish (this) with all clarity - my mission is a technical mission," he told reporters.

"It's a mission that seeks to prevent a nuclear accident. And to preserve this important (nuclear power plant)," he said, adding that the first mission visit to the station could last few days.

Earlier on Wednesday Ukraine's energy minister German Galushchenko told Reuters that the IAEA mission to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was a step towards "deoccupying and demilitarising" the site.

The plant of six power units, the largest in Europe, was captured by Moscow in March but is still operated by Ukrainian staff under the supervision of Russian troops and nuclear engineers.

The plant's territory, which is less than 10 km away from Ukrainian positions across the Dnipro river, has come under repeated shelling over the past month, with Kyiv and Moscow accusing each other of being responsible. (Reuters)

European Union foreign ministers agreed on Wednesday to fully suspend a visa facilitation agreement with Russia, making it harder and more costly for Russian citizens to enter the EU, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borell said.

"We agreed on ... full suspension of the European Union-Russia visa facilitation agreement," he told a news conference at the end of a two-day meeting of foreign ministers in Prague.

"This will significantly reduce the number of new visas issued by the EU member states. It's going to be more difficult, it's going to take longer."

Diplomats said the EU ministers could not agree immediately on a blanket ban of travel visas for Russians as member states were split on the issue.

Borrell said there had been a substantial increase in border crossings from Russia into neighbouring states since mid-July.

"This has become a security risk for these neighbouring states," he added. "In addition to that, we have seen many Russians traveling for leisure and shopping as if no war was raging in Ukraine." (Reuters)