The project’s proximity to two MRT lines is seen as the main attractive points. Photo: HDB
The 450 units in Ang Mo Kio are expected to be the most sought after in the latest Build-To-Order (BTO) sales exercise as they are the first flats to be launched within the mature estate in three years, reported The Straits Times.
The last time Ang Mo Kio received new flats was in 2016, when 590 flats were offered.
With unit prices starting from $170,000 for a two-room flexi unit and $451,000 for a four-room unit, the new BTO project – known as Yio Chu Kang Beacon – is expected to open next year. It is located near Yio Chu Kang MRT station on the North-South Line as well as the upcoming Lentor MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line.
While it is located outside the main Ang Mo Kio town centre, the project’s proximity to two MRT lines is expected to be its biggest selling point, said experts.
In fact, the four-room flats have already been oversubscribed as at 5pm on Tuesday (12 November), with 349 applicants for 235 flats.
Over in Tampines, the larger units at Tampines GreenSpring were also oversubscribed with the 218 four-room units receiving 377 applications. Its 193 five-room units also received 413 applications.
PropNex Realty chief executive Ismail Gafoor noted that the relatively low number of units offered in Ang Mo Kio, as compared with this year’s previous BTO launches, will make the estate most sought-after this time.
ERA Realty’s head of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak expects both Ang Mo Kio and Tampines to be oversubscribed by five to eight times among first-time applicants. He believes that the three Tengah projects will more likely appeal to younger buyers who “want to buy into the future”.
Among the couples hoping to secure a unit in Ang Mo Kio is 29-year old Jacob Ong and his girlfriend of eight years. The couple had applied 10 times for flats in other mature estates like Bidadari to no avail.
“What attracts us mainly is the location as it’s close to the MRT station and to our parents’ houses in Yishun and Bishan. We’re definitely hoping to get a good queue number, but pretty sure it will be just as popular as Bidadari, if not more,” said Ong.
Meanwhile, the Tengah projects, are also expected to be popular, especially among younger buyers who “want to buy into the future”, according to Mr Mak. The 3 projects will be within walking distance from future MRT stations along the upcoming Jurong Region Line (JRL), and offer two-room flexi to five-room flats as well as three-generation flats. He added that the two-room flexi flats offered in the Tengah projects might appeal to retirees as they “can get their own flats near their children; it’s a way of preparing for the changing demographic in Singapore.”
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg