Cassia Fo, wearing her light denim jacket over a white top, standing beside two abstract rate lines on a plain warm ivory background: a flat gold line representing the unchanging HDB concessionary rate, and a jagged navy line representing the floating bank rate, with a tall spike on the left (the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis) and a smaller spike on the right (the 2022-23 SORA hike).

Cover story · property

HDB Loan vs. Bank Loan: One Buyer, 25 Years, Three Real Strategies

One buyer, one S$800,000 HDB flat, three strategies -- run against real Singapore interest-rate history from 1997 to 2022, including the 1997-98 crisis and the 2022-23 SORA hike, not just today's rate.

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What Cassia is reading closely.

Editorial illustration: a set of brass keys resting on a signed lease document beside a brass letter-opener, on a warm-toned desk
The paperwork that protects you — once you sign it

property · guide

The Order You Pay In: A First-Timer's Rental Checklist for Singapore

Singapore has no dedicated tenant-protection law, so the order you do things in, and the clauses you actually read, are what protect both sides. Here's the full DIY procedure: the Letter of Intent almost nobody explains, the minor-repair and servicing clauses that decide ongoing bills, a real aircon scam to watch for, what the move-in inspection window is actually for, and the address-registration duties that catch nearly everyone out.

Cassia Fo ·

Read the guide

Tower cranes and a Housing Board block under construction, illustrating the pace of building work ahead of a BTO launch.
Tower cranes over a Housing Board block under construction — six new BTO sites open for application in the October 2026 exercise, the subject of this guide.

property · analysis

Six BTO sites, three trade-offs: pick the question before the grade

Six letters can make a ballot look like a leaderboard. It is not. One site in this pack has the clearest mature-town resale signal; one is a new-town bet with no normal HDB resale history yet; others may be worth a closer look if your problem is ballot chance rather than bragging rights. Start with the compromise your household can live with. Then make the official documents prove the rest.

Cassia Fo ·

Read the story

Property analysis

Evidence before instinct.

Editorial illustration: a set of brass keys resting on a signed lease document beside a brass letter-opener, on a warm-toned desk
The paperwork that protects you — once you sign it

property · guide

The Order You Pay In: A First-Timer's Rental Checklist for Singapore

Singapore has no dedicated tenant-protection law, so the order you do things in, and the clauses you actually read, are what protect both sides. Here's the full DIY procedure: the Letter of Intent almost nobody explains, the minor-repair and servicing clauses that decide ongoing bills, a real aircon scam to watch for, what the move-in inspection window is actually for, and the address-registration duties that catch nearly everyone out.

Cassia Fo ·

Read the guide

Tower cranes and a Housing Board block under construction, illustrating the pace of building work ahead of a BTO launch.
Tower cranes over a Housing Board block under construction — six new BTO sites open for application in the October 2026 exercise, the subject of this guide.

property · analysis

Six BTO sites, three trade-offs: pick the question before the grade

Six letters can make a ballot look like a leaderboard. It is not. One site in this pack has the clearest mature-town resale signal; one is a new-town bet with no normal HDB resale history yet; others may be worth a closer look if your problem is ballot chance rather than bragging rights. Start with the compromise your household can live with. Then make the official documents prove the rest.

Cassia Fo ·

Read the story

Cassia's letter

A considered note on what matters next.

The Cassia view

What the data says. What it means for you.

Cassia walks the model and the material board behind this issue's read on the market.

A closer look with Cassia.

Cassia Fo seated in a warm walnut editorial interior, facing camera in a neutral, considered pose.
Cassia Fo seated at a wood-slat table in a warm walnut editorial interior.