3,739 flats launched in first HDB sales exercise of 2019

Artist’s impression of the Towner Crest BTO project in Kallang Whampoa. Source: HDB

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) on Tuesday (12 Feb) launched 3,739 flats for sale in this year’s first Build-To-Order (BTO) and Re-Offer of Balance Flats (ROF) exercise.

Of these, 3,162 BTO flats will be spread across five projects – three in the non-mature towns of Sengkang and Jurong West, and two in the mature estate of Kallang Whampoa.

Analysts expect the Kallang Whampoa flats to be popular among buyers due to their city fringe location and proximity to MRT stations.

“The Kallang/Whampoa flats are expected to be the “hottest” in this exercise, as they are centrally located and not too far away from MRT stations. We should see more second-timer demand for these flats, especially as their price points are higher compared to flats in non-mature locations,” said Eugene Lim, key executive officer of ERA Realty.

For instance, prices of three-room flats in Kallang Whampoa start from $374,000, while those in Jurong West and Sengkang are priced from $185,000 and $191,000 respectively.

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Meanwhile, the 577 unsold flats from the Sale of Balance Flats exercise in May 2018 comprise 173 two-room Flexi, 166 three-room, 129 four-room, 10 five-room and 96 3Gen flats as well as three executive flats across various towns and estates.

Huttons Asia head of research Lee Sze Teck noted that this current ROF “may not be as popular because only 13 percent of the flats are already completed”.

HDB revealed that at least 95 percent of the flat supply will be set aside for first-timer families and up to five percent for second-timer families.

And while elderly buyers can also apply if they meet the prevailing conditions to acquire a two-room Flexi flat, families “enjoy priority for flat selection”, it said.

It noted that applicants can apply for a flat under either the BTO or ROF exercises, but not both.

“If they apply for a BTO flat, they must select only one flat type in one town. If they apply for a ROF flat, they do not have to indicate their preferred flat type and town/estate in their application.”

Applications for the flats closes on 18 February.

The next BTO launch will be held in May, where around 3,400 flats in Kallang Whampoa, Woodlands and Tengah will be launched for sale.

Learn how to get your own BTO flat from application to key collection with PropertyGuru.

 

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