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.
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HDB launches four Prime projects in July BTO exercise; subsidy clawback hits high of 12%
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…
