Artist’s impression of the Alkaff Oasis BTO project in Bidadari. Source: HDB
As of 5pm on Monday (29 Feb), the 236 five-room and 3Gen flats at Alkaff Oasis in Bidadari have emerged as the most popular units in the February Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise, with an application rate of 7.6 for first-time buyers and 75.6 for second-time buyers, according to the HDB.
An application rate of 75.6 means that for every one flat available, there are over 75 applicants vying for the unit.
In mature estates such as Bidadari, up to 95 percent of the supply of three- to five-room flats are set aside for first-timers, while five percent are reserved for second-timers.
So far, there are a total of 2,537 applicants for the five-room and 3Gen flats. The 71 3Gen flats at Alkaff Oasis are specially designed for multi-generation families, said the HDB.
The project’s four-room flats also attracted keen interest, with 4,018 buyers applying for the 800 units on offer, which translates to an application rate of five times.
Mohamed Ismail, CEO of PropNex Realty, had earlier predicted that despite the higher prices, larger flats at Bidadari would be much sought-after due to its central location.
Excluding grants, prices start from $440,000 for the four-room, $546,000 for the five-room and $553,000 for the 3Gen flats.
Eligible first-time buyers of the four-room flats will enjoy up to $55,000 in housing grants, and up to $10,000 for the five-room and 3Gen flats.
Situated at the junction of Bidadari Park Drive and Alkaff Crescent in Toa Payoh, Alkaff Oasis consists of 16 residential blocks with sky terraces and roof gardens. To encourage a ‘green’ lifestyle, the project will have several eco-friendly features, including motion sensor-controlled energy-efficient lighting at staircases, and regenerative lifts to reduce energy consumption.
In its first BTO exercise of 2016, the Housing Board launched 4,170 flats for sale last Wednesday (24 Feb).
Spread across three projects in the estates of Bukit Batok, Sengkang and Bidadari, they make up the first crop of 18,000 flats that will be launched this year, the HDB said.
Interested applicants have until midnight of 1 March 2016 to apply for the flats, and can do so on the HDB InfoWEB.
They are advised to apply for a BTO flat in the non-mature estates of Bukit Batok and Sengkang to increase their chances of securing units.
About 4,070 new flats will be offered in the next BTO exercise in May, noted the HDB.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
