For housewife Jane (not her real name), the no-go on the en bloc deal at Tulip Garden, where she has a flat, proved a blessing.

Worried about spiralling home prices when talk of a collective sale started last year, she liquidated all her stocks in August to help pay for a $3 million apartment near Holland Road.

'Prices in the area were going up by $200,000 every month. I got scared,' Jane, 58, told The Sunday Times.

But selling her stocks was the right move - she cashed out before the stock market took a hit late last year.

If there had been no en bloc push, she probably would have held on to the stocks, she admitted.

Her family got a $120,000 share of the deposit the buyer had forfeited for Tulip Garden.

She noted that she was lucky. Her finances allowed her to buy another home without depending on money from the collective sale.

'Those who do - and I know a few residents in this situation - may have some problems,' she said.

Jane thinks Tulip Garden is still a good property because Farrer MRT station will be up in a few years. That could drive prices even further up, she said.

She will keep her unit and rent it out and move to her new home. She has an added reason to do so.

'This en bloc issue has soured relationships between myself and some of the neighbours here because I didn't want to sign for it initially. So I don't want to stay here any more,' she said.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on April 27, 2008

Is this article useful to you?