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Thread: New Yishun HDB flats up for grabs at below-market resale prices

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    Default New Yishun HDB flats up for grabs at below-market resale prices

    http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/...16740,00.html?

    Published December 19, 2008

    New Yishun HDB flats up for grabs at below-market resale prices

    By ARTHUR SIM


    THE Housing and Development Board (HDB) has launched Dew Spring @ Yishun where a good number of units are smaller two and three-room flats.

    Prices range from $76,000 to $90,000 for each of the 144 two-bedroom flats.

    There are 216 three- room flats and these have been priced at $120,000 to $146,000. HDB says that prices of nearby resale flats (which are about 20 years old) are about $175,000 to $180,000 (on a pro-rated basis with units of the same 65 square metre size).

    As such, HDB has priced the three-room flats at about 20 to 30 per cent less than comparable resale prices.

    There are 504 four- room flats and these have been priced between $197,000 and $238,000.

    HDB says that resale prices are between $225,000 and $257,000 (on a pro-rated basis with units of the same 90 sq m size) for the four-room flats nearby. As such, Dew Spring four-room flats are about 7-12 per cent cheaper.

    HDB did not have comparable resale prices for two-room flats.

    The board said that in pricing new flats, it considers several factors such as location, individual attributes of the flats, design of the project and the prevailing market conditions.

    'To ensure public housing is affordable for first- time home buyers, new HDB flats are priced below their equivalent market prices,' it added.

    Including Dew Spring, HDB has launched a total of 883 units of two-room and three-room flats this year and plans to launch another 100 smaller flats soon. It also plans to offer about 4,000 smaller units over the next two years.

    The launch of Dew Spring follows National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan's announcement in Parliament on Nov 18 that lower-income families and those who need to downgrade to smaller flats can look forward to a steady supply of smaller flats.

    PropNex chief executive officer Mohamed Ismail believes that HDB's launch of the smaller units is timely, considering the 'current economic uncertainty'.

    He added: 'These flats are priced very attractively. The smaller units are actually going at below $200 psf, which is very much below the median resale prices for that area in the last quarter.'

    As the units are situated not far from a golf course and a reservoir, Mr Ismail expects an oversubscription for these units of about four times.

    HDB has so far launched 6,600 units under its Build- to-Order system in 2008. It plans to launch another 1,180 units by the end of the year.

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    http://www.straitstimes.com/Prime+Ne...sunwMethod=GET

    December 19, 2008 Friday

    4,000 smaller HDB flats coming up

    Supply over the next two years is a marked increase to meet demand

    By Jessica Cheam


    SMALLER flats are making a comeback, with the Housing Board (HDB) ramping up supply to around 4,000 over the next two years to meet surging demand.

    It marks a dramatic turnaround for a style of flat that had not been been built for about 20 years.

    Next year 2,000 three-room and smaller flats will be built, almost double the amount put up this year, with a further 2000 earmarked for 2010.

    The HDB move will mean a steady supply of smaller flats for lower income families and homeowners who need to downgrade amid grimmer economic times.

    National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan flagged the strategy in Parliament last month.

    HDB deputy chief executive Tan Poh Hong said yesterday that the board has revived smaller flats on a large scale as 'there are are more people who will need to downgrade, as well as first-timer families who would also like to start with smaller flats to be financially prudent'.

    Analysts anticipate a good take-up as 'difficult economic conditions' encourage homebuyers to 'start small'.

    Buyers like nurse Liu Li, 29, a home-hunter on the look-out for such affordable flats, said: 'A bigger pool of new, small flats will widen choices for first-timers like me.'

    Prices will start from as low as $76,000 for the new small units.

    The HDB stopped building two- and three-roomers in the 1980s as growing families fuelled demand for bigger flats.

    But they were re-introduced in 2004 and two years ago, the HDB said it would resume building two-roomers to meet increasing demand.

    Demand for smaller flats has been red hot recently. HDB sales have attracted over 10 times more applicants than homes available. An October sale of 150 small flats was swamped with 2,426 applications in just a week.

    Mr Kelvin Wang, who recently bought a three-roomer in Tiong Bahru, said he had difficulty finding the home, his first, because there were so few small ones around.

    'The increased supply will help ease demand for such homes,' said the 24-year-old engineer.

    Some of the new smaller flats form part of a new standard project launched by the HDB yesterday.

    Dew Spring @ Yishun at the junction of Yishun Ring Road and Yishun Street 41 offers 504 four-room, 216 three-roomers and 144 two-room units.

    The build-to-order (BTO) project has the largest number of smaller flat types among HDB's BTO launches this year. BTO projects are built only when a certain level of demand is reached.

    HDB's Ms Tan stressed that the homes will be kept affordable.

    Two-roomers at Dew Spring start at $76,000 to $90,000; three-roomers go for between $120,000 and $146,000 with four-roomers at $197,000 to $238,000.

    For the first time, the HDB has released comparable prices of resale flats in the same area to show the affordability of the new flats being launched.

    Prices of 20-year-old three-roomers nearby of similar size, for example, are selling for $175,000 to $180,000 - higher than the launch price, the HDB said.

    PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said that Dew Spring flats 'are priced very attractively. The smaller units are below $200 psf (per square foot), which is much lower than the median resale prices for that area in the last quarter'.

    The HDB has launched 6,600 homes this year under its BTO scheme, of which 883, or 13 per cent, were two-room and three-room flats.

    It plans to launch a further 1,180 units in the next two weeks, which will include 280 studio apartments, two-room and three-room homes.

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    http://www.todayonline.com/articles/293372.asp

    Friday, December 19, 2008

    Priced for the market

    Increased supply of flats in Yishun a response to demand, says HDB

    ESTHER NG

    [email protected]


    BUOYED by demand for its previous Build To Order flats (BTO), the Housing and Development Board (HDB) announced yesterday the launch of its latest BTO project — Dew Spring@Yishun.

    “The previous BTO launch in Yishun — Jade Spring Phase One and Two was five times subscribed, and therefore, we feel that there could be demand for flats in Yishun, which is why we’re putting out this contract,” said the Board’s deputy chief executive Tan Poh Hong.

    A total of 864 standard flats will be built, comprising 144 two-room, 216 three-room and 504 four-room units, with Dew Spring@Yishun having the largest number of two- and three-room flats — 170 more than Senja Green, a BTO project launched in August.

    Located at the junction of Yishun Ring Road and Yishun Street 41, prices for the two-room units start at $76,000, the three-room flats at $120,000 and four-roomers at $197,000.

    With the latest release, the Board has launched a total of 833 units of two- and three-room flats, and there are plans to offer another 280 similar units soon.

    In all, the HDB plans to offer 4,000 smaller flats over the next two years.

    When it was pointed out that 90 per cent of BTO flats are reserved for first timers and that the remaining 10 per cent may not be sufficient to meet the demand of downgraders forced to monetise their flats during bad economic times, Ms Tan assured: “If there is a need for more, we will build more.”

    This is in line with National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan’s statement to Parliament last month that lower-income families and those who need to downgrade could look forward to a steady supply of smaller flats.

    Property firm, PropNex’s chief executive Mohamad Ismail called HDB’s launch of the smaller units “timely” amidst the current economic uncertainty.

    “These flats are priced very attractively,” he said. “The smaller units are actually going at below $200 per square foot, which is very much below the median resale prices for that area in the last quarter.”

    As the units are situated not far from the Orchid Country Club and the Sungei Seletar Reservoir, Mr Ismail expects an over-subscription for these units. He also commended HDB for reaching out to the lower-income bracket with more affordable units.

    In pricing the new flats, HDB said it considers several factors, such as prevailing market conditions and the resale prices of similar units in the vicinity, making adjustments for differences like location, amenities, design of the project, age and orientation.

    It added that when comparing prices of flats it should be like-for-like.

    Said Ms Tan: “It is not correct to compare a flat in Yishun and Sengkang, because they are two different towns, having different attributes. When we do comparisons, we use comparables within the same vicinity.”

    She was responding to media reports which compared the prices of new BTO flats to resale flats, and to criticisms that new HDB flats were not affordable.

    The Board also clarified that construction costs do not affect prices of HDB flats as HDB adopts a market-pricing approach which reflects the true value of flats — how much Singaporeans are willing to pay for such flats in the open market.

    It also ensures the optimal use of public resources.

    Said HDB’s acting deputy director of marketing and projects, Mr Ignatius Lourdesamy: “If it’s too high, there will be no demand for new flats. If it’s too low, it diminishes the market value of existing flats and we will be over-spending public funds on housing.”

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