About 22,000 applications received in July BTO sales exercise so far: Chee Hong Tat

CNA

3 days ago

SINGAPORE: About 22,000 applications had been received for the flats in the ongoing Build-to-Order (BTO) sales exercise as of 5pm on Wednesday (Jul 30), said National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat.
This was higher than the 13,200 BTO applications received by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) in the previous sales exercise held in February, when there were 5,032 BTO flats put up for sale.
This time, 5,547 BTO flats have been launched across eight projects – located in Bukit Merah, Bukit Panjang, Clementi, Sembawang, Tampines, Toa Payoh and Woodlands – to meet the diverse needs and budgets of home buyers, said Mr Chee in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
The July sales exercise, which started on Jul 23, ends at 11.59pm on Wednesday.
So far, the median application rate for three-room and bigger BTO flats among first-timer families stands at 1.4. This is slightly higher than the rate of 1.1 seen in February's exercise, the minister said.
However, the rate is lower than those seen in the three BTO sales exercises held last year, which ranged from 1.6 to 2.6.
PRIME BTO PROJECTS SEE HIGH DEMAND
Among the new BTO projects on offer, four were Prime projects, which come with subsidy clawbacks that are the highest to date.
The Clementi Emerald project, which is close to Clementi MRT station, has a subsidy clawback rate of 12 per cent, while the other three – Toa Payoh Ascent, as well as Alexandra Peaks and Alexandra Vista in Bukit Merah – come with a subsidy clawback rate of 11 per cent.
Prime flats in the last two exercises had subsidy clawback rates of 9 per cent. The higher rates for the latest projects correspond to the extent of the extra subsidies offered for them, HDB had said.
Prime flats are one of three categories of BTO flats, alongside Standard and Plus. These flats are located in 'exceptionally good locations' and come with more subsidies to keep them affordable.
'This is to ensure that BTO flats in attractive locations remain affordable, accessible and inclusive for Singaporeans,' said Mr Chee. But to maintain fairness, these flats also come with stricter resale rules, like a 10-year minimum occupation period and subsidy clawbacks.
That said, the higher subsidy clawback rates did not seem to deter demand for the latest Prime projects, which had attracted more than 12,000 applications as of 5pm, according to Huttons Asia's senior director of data analytics Lee Sze Teck.
Close to 5,900 applicants were vying for the 741 flats on offer at Toa Payoh Ascent. This demand – it accounted for almost half of the total applications received for the Prime projects – is unsurprising given the project's central location, as well as proximity to Caldecott MRT station and a number of schools, such as CHIJ Primary Toa Payoh, CHIJ Secondary and Raffles Girls' School, analysts said.
'We think applicants could also be attracted to the future development plans in the Toa Payoh Rise area, where more housing and mixed-use projects may potentially come on,' said PropNex CEO Kelvin Fong.
Alexandra Peaks and Alexandra Vista in Bukit Merah saw more than 3,300 applicants for 1,107 flats, while Clementi Emerald, the project with the highest subsidy clawback, received more than 3,100 applications for its 753 units, according to Huttons Asia.
The demand for flats at Clementi Emerald was likely due to a variety of factors such as the project's location in the mature estate of Clementi, proximity to Clementi MRT station and shorter waiting time of less than three years, said Mr Lee.
That said, 'it is possible that applications could have been higher if not for the 12 per cent subsidy recovery rate – the highest clawback rate for Prime BTO projects so far', said Mr Fong.
Among the Standard projects, the most popular was Simei Symphony, located in the Simei estate within Tampines town, which had about eight first-time applicants vying for each of its 100 five-room flats.
The project's 140 four-room flats had a first-time application rate of 6.4, meaning about six first-time applicants were vying for each unit, based on HDB's website, which was last updated at 5pm.
Mr Lee attributed the high application rates to factors such as the pent-up demand for flats in the area, since the project is the first new public housing project in Simei in more than 10 years.
In addition, the Standard classification of this project would appeal to home buyers who do not want to be bound to tighter resale restrictions and a longer minimum occupation period, said Mr Fong.
The ongoing sales exercise also saw the launch of 4,662 Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) units.
For three-room and larger balance flats, the median application rate for first-timer families was at 1.8, a drop from the rate of 2.6 seen in February, when there were 5,590 SBF units on offer, said Mr Chee.
Huttons Asia's Mr Lee said the ongoing BTO exercise likely drew more applicants this time than the SBF exercise due to an offering of projects in more popular locations, such as Bukit Merah, Clementi, Toa Payoh and Tampines.
Echoing that, PropNex CEO Kelvin Fong said: "The record-high proportion of Prime flats in attractive locations offered in this exercise, along with the introduction of priority access for singles who wish to live near their parents, may have collectively contributed to the healthy number of applicants."
July's sales exercise marked the implementation of a slew of policy changes, including the inclusion of singles in an improved Family Care Scheme, which gives priority to BTO applicants looking to live with or near their parents.
With that, the authorities 'continue to see strong interest' among first-time singles for two-room flexi flats islandwide, said Mr Chee.
Other policy changes include a larger allocation quota for second-time families applying for three-room and larger flats, and an expansion in the rules for the deferred income assessment such that only one party in a couple needs to be a recent or current full-time student or national serviceman. Previously, both parties needed to meet the requirement.