http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/arch...flats-20140523
Published May 23, 2014
HDB selling 6,454 BTO and SBF flats
BTO flats in 2 non-mature towns while SBF units are in various locations
By Lynette Khoo
[email protected] @LynetteKhooBT
THE Housing Development Board (HDB) is rolling out 6,454 flats for sale this month in both mature and non-mature estates under its Build-To-Order (BTO) and Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercises.
The third BTO launch this year will offer 3,071 BTO flats in four projects in the non-mature towns of Bukit Batok and Woodlands, bringing the total number of BTO flats released this year to 9,707 units.
Admiralty Flora and Marsiling Greenview are in the Woodlands planning area bounded by Woodlands Drive 62 and Woodlands Drive 73, while West Crest @ Bukit Batok and West Valley @ Bukit Batok are bounded by Bukit Batok Avenue 8 and Bukit Batok Avenue 9.
Property consultants expect the new flats in Woodlands to be more appealing given their proximity to the MRT stations.
"With the expected positive impact from the future plan of the Woodlands Regional Centre in the draft Master Plan 2013, we expect the two projects in Woodlands planning region will be well received by potential buyers," said Nicholas Mak, executive director at SLP International.
He noted that the unit mix of this new batch of BTO flats is similar to that in March, with no new studio apartments offered.
"This could be due to the low application rate for studio apartments in the previous BTO application exercise," he said. "In contrast, the two-room flats continue to receive very high application rate from single buyers at 19.4 in the last BTO launch."
Two-room flats make up 22 per cent of this batch of BTO flats. A two-room flat in Marsiling Greenview starts from $72,000 before grants while the same flat type in the two Bukit Batok projects start from $84,000.
ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim said that he expects to see a healthy subscription for two-room flats in this BTO exercise given strong demand from singles.
The 50 three-generation flats in Marsiling Greenview are also likely to be popular, given the proximity to Marsiling MRT station, he added.
Under the SBF exercise this month, there are 3,383 balance flats being offered, bringing the total flats HDB has offered so far this year to 13,090.
These balance flats are in a wide range of flat types, locations and selling prices, including a five-room unit at Pinnacle@Duxton in Tanjong Pagar that is selling for $769,000 before grants.
Mr Lim said that he expects the application rate for the balance flats to be about 2 or lower but believes the unit at Pinnacle@Duxton will be highly contested in anticipation of capital upside in the resale market.
More housing options are available in July, when the HDB will offer some 3,810 BTO flats in Punggol, Sembawang, Toa Payoh, Woodlands and Yishun. "With singles and second timers finding it easier to apply for BTO, there may be less demand on the resale market," Mr Lim said. "Strong BTO and SBF launches, together with the new cooling measures and upcoming supply, demand for resale is expected to remain stable and this will help keep HDB prices stabilised."
HDB is tapering off its supply of new flats from this year, after a three-year ramp-up to cool property prices saw the effect of falling application rates for new flats and reduced cash premiums in the resale market.