More than 7,500 flats have been launched for sale in a mix of mature and non-mature towns, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) said on Tuesday (Nov 25).
The 7,568 flats on offer include 4,277 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats spread across six projects in Sembawang, Sengkang, Yishun and Tampines.
Another 3,291 units will be offered under the Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise – located in 11 non-mature towns and 15 mature towns. About 30 per cent of these flats are already completed.
The first housing project in Tampines North will feature the first Three-Generation (3Gen) flats in a mature town, HDB said. The project is part of HDB’s final sales exercise for this year, bringing the total number of BTO flats launched in 2014 to 22,455.
This is in line with HDB’s commitment to launch 22,400 BTO flats for sale this year. Together with 6,674 balance flats offered in the May and November exercises, HDB has offered a total of 29,129 flats for sale in 2014.
HDB said it has 1,496 BTO units on offer in the new Tampines North project. The other BTO flats will comprise two- to five-room flats, while the SBF flats include studio apartments, two- to five-room flats, 3Gen flats and executive flats.
ANALYSTS EXPECT KEEN INTEREST IN TAMPINES FLATS
One of the projects, Tampines GreenRidges, will be the first housing development in Tampines North. It will also be the first precinct in the new area to feature the Pneumatic Waste Conveyance System – an automated waste collection system.
Property analysts expect interest in flats at Tampines to be keen. Chris International’s director, Chris Koh, said: “We know that in the eastern part of Singapore, in terms of maturity of towns, Tampines is one town that we see many people wanting to move there.
“Tampines is a mature town. We have a regional centre there, near your banks, your shopping and your movie theatres, for example. If you have BTO flats in Tampines, which we have not seen for a very long time, for sure it will have a high demand.”
Lim Yong Hock, PropNex’s key executive officer, explained: “Take a five-room flat, for example, which is about S$340,000 after the grant. Compared to the resale market, it is about S$550,000 to even as high as S$650,000 on average.
“I think the difference is relatively high, about 30 per cent, so with that, I think more of the first timers would be attracted to this pricing.”
NEW PRIORITY SCHEME
Starting from this sales exercise, up to 30 per cent of the flat supply for first-timer families, and up to 15 per cent for second-timer families will be set aside for those who apply to live with or near their parents or married child under the Married Child Priority Scheme.
Steven Lee, a Tampines resident, said: “I am more interested to find a flat for my son, which is near to my home at Tampines North. I received a call from my son, who is now in Korea, asking me to take a first look at this project.”
Applications can be submitted online on the HDB InfoWEB from Tuesday to Dec 1. For enquiries, the public can go to esales.hdb.gov.sg, email [email protected] or visit the HDB sales Office.
The next BTO launch, to be held in February 2015, will offer 3,940 flats in Bukit Batok, Geylang and Hougang. There will be four BTO exercises next year, with a total of 16,900 new flats on offer, HDB said.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 25 Nov 2014