Competition for Tengah’s bigger flats, however, was sparse. Image: HDB
Bigger Build-To-Order (BTO) flats within the mature estates of Tampines and Ang Mo Kio proved to be a hit among homebuyers at a Housing and Development Board (HDB) sales exercise that ended on Monday (18 November), while smaller units were less popular.
In fact, all 235 four-room flats in Ang Mo Kio – the biggest unit type offered in the estate – received over 13 first-time applicants, while the three-room flats were less popular, as all 87 units only around two applicants each, reported The New Paper.
It was pretty much the same in Tampines too, all 193 five-room and 218 four-room flats received around 11 bids, while the 90 three-roomers only saw three applicants each.
Competition for Tengah’s bigger flats, however, was sparse.
Each of the estate’s four- and five-room units as well as the three-generation flats only drew two applicants. Its three-room flats attracted an application rate of 0.7 – which means all applicants would likely get a flat.
Interest for the two-room flexi flats at all three estates have also been subdued, with an application rate of 0.3 in Tampines and Ang Mo Kio and 0.1 in Tengah.
Elderly citizens, under the two-toom flexi scheme, enjoy flexibility in choosing the length of lease on their two-room unit. Those aged 55 and above are allowed to take up a lease of 15 to 45 years in five-year increments.
Last Tuesday (12 November), HDB offered 4,571 new BTO flats for sale in the year’s biggest BTO sales exercise.
Excluding grants, a four-room flat in Ang Mo Kio goes from $451,000, while a five-room unit in Tampines is priced from $508,000.
Also offered in the sale exercise were 3,599 sale of balance flat units in 14 mature estates such as Clementi and Bishan and 11 non-mature estates, including Punggol and Bukit Panjang.
Eligible buyers can avail the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant of up to $80,000, which places no restriction on the flat type and location.
“The raised income ceiling means that more people are now eligible to buy new flats and naturally, these families are going for bigger units,” said ERA Realty head of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak.
“They can afford it and they are also aware that the capital gains on the resale market for big units are larger.”
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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
