Khaw reveals profiles of May BTO applicants

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan revealed in his latest blog entry the profiles of 14,000 applicants for the May 2011 launch of Built-to-Order (BTO) flats.

Entitled “Know Our Customers”, his latest blog entry revealed that 65 percent of the applicants are first-time buyers and 55 percent are attempting their first BTO purchase, of which 35 percent are first-timers and 20 percent are second-timers.

The minister also wrote that “among the first-timers, more than half applied under HDB’s Fiancé-Fiancée Scheme. Their median age was 27. As for the other first-timers (i.e. those already married), their median age was 34. There is therefore justification to revise the HDB income ceiling, given the rising age of applicants.”

He added that HDB is currently processing the applications for the 4,000 BTO units.

Following Mr. Khaw’s recent blog post, Ms. Tejaswi Chunduri, a real estate analyst at PropertyGuru, said, “From the blog, it shows that Minister Khaw is concerned about home buyers and is making an effort to study the market well so that comprehensive measures can be taken to help the genuine home buyer.”

“The increase in the supply of BTO flats will certainly be seen as a step towards meeting the demand and supply ratio. Together with this, it will help in providing more choices for those buyers who are very choosy when selecting the flats.”

She also commented on the minister’s statement regarding the revision of the HDB income ceiling. She said, “This will likely affect the demand for private property. If the income ceiling for BTO flats is raised, so will the ceiling for executive condominiums (ECs).”

“This could likely shift some buyers interest towards buying EC or HDB flats instead of private property, thereby increasing demand in this sector.”

“Again in the HDB market, there are chances of increase in prices. This is because there is currently strong pent-up demand for public housing due to the shortage of supply in the resale and BTO market.  Any increase in demand will in turn push up property prices.”

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