Nearly 7,000 flats launched in May BTO and Sale of Balance Flats exercises

May 31, 2023

SOME 6,995 new public housing flats are up for offer in the Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) latest Build-To-Order (BTO) and Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise, launched on Tuesday (May 30).

A total of 5,945 BTO flats were offered across five projects in both mature and non-mature estates in Bedok, Kallang, Whampoa, Serangoon and Tengah, with one project in Farrer Park under the Prime Location Public Housing (PLH) model.

Out of the 1,500 SBF units being offered, about 61 per cent have been completed; the rest are still being constructed.

The launch includes various types of BTO flats, ranging from two-room flexi to three-generation flats. Five-room flats will also be offered in the mature estates of Serangoon and Bedok – making up more than 40 per cent of the total five-room flat supply in this launch.

Some 20 per cent of the PLH flats will be set aside for first-timer families, and 2 per cent for second-timer families under the Married Child Priority Scheme.

As PLH flats are priced with additional subsidies on top of the market discounts applied to all BTO flats, owners of the flats will have to return 6 per cent of the resale price or valuation, upon the sale of their flats, HDB said.

“With significant market discounts, the new flats will be priced considerably lower than the transacted prices of comparable resale flats,” it added.

Eligible first-time families can receive an Enhanced Central Provident Fund Housing Grant of up to S$80,000.

Applicants could purchase a three-room or four-room flat in non-mature estate Tengah from S$163,000 or S$290,000, respectively, after the subsidy.

For mature estates like Bedok, where units fetch a higher price, applicants could purchase a three-room or four-room flat from S$260,000 or S$403,000, respectively, after the subsidy.

The Tengah project, named Parc Meadow @ Tengah, has the shortest waiting time for this launch at about 3.08 years.

With almost 90 per cent of the BTO units having a waiting time of 3.08 years to 3.7 years, the May BTO sales exercise has the highest proportion of flats, in recent years, to be completed in less than four years, HDB said.

PropNex chief executive Ismail Gafoor expects that there will be pent-up demand for flats in Bedok and Serangoon, as well as strong interest in five-room flats in those estates.

He noted that the last time HDB launched a BTO project in Bedok and Serangoon was in 2016 and 2014, respectively.

HDB’s launch of 1,692 units of five-room flats in its four projects is a “positive move”, Gafoor added, as there is “strong demand” for larger flats in mature towns among families and young couples, who have had to turn to the resale market due to the limited BTO supply.

“Further down the road, with more five-room flats eligible for resale in mature towns, it may also help to moderate prices,” he said.

Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at Mogul.sg, noted that the prices of HDB resale flats are showing signs of slower growth.

In 2022, the HDB resale flat price index expanded at an average rate of 2.5 per cent per quarter. In Q1 2023, the price index increased by 1.0 per cent quarter on quarter.

“The lower demand in the HDB resale market could slow down the price growth of HDB resale flats further, resulting in about 3 per cent to 6 per cent price increase for the whole of this year,” he said.

“This would mean that the HDB resale flat prices this year may grow at only half of the 10.4 per cent price expansion in 2022.”

Gafoor expected to see more applicants in the launch, as it is the last BTO exercise before stricter rules for non-selection kicks in from August this year.

Indeed, as of 5.30pm on Tuesday, users had to wait for about 30 minutes in a virtual waiting room to enter the HDB May 2023 sales launch webpage.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/pro...lats-exercises