18,000 new flats to be launched in 2016

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) is planning to launch about 18,000 new Build-To-Order (BTO) flats in 2016, more than the 15,000 units launched this year, said National Development Minister, Lawrence Wong, in a blog post.

The new flats will be spread across different locations, catering for every budget and need.

"While the 2016 flat supply will be increased to meet new demand from the recent policy changes, the broader plan remains to keep supply at a more sustainable level over the long-term," said Wong.

This year will see around 26,000 BTO flats being completed, noted the Minister, after visiting a few families who recently moved into their new flats in the Tampines Greenlace BTO project.

He revealed that the BTO application rate for first-timer families (applying for 3-room and bigger flats in non-mature estates) has stabilised to about 1.6 times. "This means that most of these families would have been able to book their flats in their first attempt."

"Over the coming year, we will continue to monitor the market closely and adjust our building programme when necessary," he shared.

Meanwhile, the HDB resale market is on track for a soft-landing, with prices moderating to 2011 levels, and more than half of resale flats are now transacting close to their market value.

The stabilisation of the market has allowed the government to focus on enhancing the housing policies to benefit more Singaporeans. These include new 2-room Flexi flats, higher income ceilings, and additional grants, like the new Proximity Housing Grant and the enhanced Special CPF Housing Grant.

"We've had a very good response to these new policies. We will focus on making our housing policies more inclusive and build even better homes for all Singaporeans," added Wong.

Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg

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