Housing board is expected to launch a few new flats by the upcoming year. There are around 15,000 built to order apartments that will be designed in a few popular areas of the city such as Kallang/Whampoa, Jurong West and Sengkang. Earlier it was estimated that agency would launch around 17000 flats in the year 2018, but reports reveal that they have actually launched only 15800. It was a considerable fall as compared to the 17,584 number of flats launched in the previous year.
The chief executive of PropNex Realty, Mr. Ismail Gafoor revealed that the number of flats estimated to be launched in the year 2019 would be the least since the year 2015. Important to mention that the flat count in that year was 15100 only. Studies reveal that it happened just because of the normalization in subscription from 2 to 2.4 times within the past three years.
There is no doubt to say that there is a considerable decay in a number of BTO flats from the year 2016. It is just because the government at present is more focused on the older and existing homes so that they can be modified and renovated to improve living conditions. Experts also revealed that the application rates for various non-mature estates are also reduced by a great extent. However, the announcement for launching 15000 flats in the upcoming year is not a commitment yet; if the situation allows, the count can be scaled up or down as per real estate market requirements.
HBD recently also said that all the first timer application rates for these larger BTO flats and the three-room apartments are observed to be stable by this year. It is seen that most of the first-time applicants who made efforts to book BTO flats in different non-mature estate areas were able to book them easily within the first or second attempt. However, few of them succeed in the third attempt. But at an average, the process went quite smoothly and without any trouble.
With these reports, it is believed that the launch that is to be expected by the coming year with offer shorter wait time for the 2000 flats in Tengah. Moreover, the prospective homeowners will be able to get their keys only within 2 to 3 years after application submission; note that earlier they had to wait for 3 to 4 years to gain access to their property.
Well! The great news is that the very first batch of these short wait time flats was launched at Yishun, Seng-Kang and Sembawang by the last month. There are 1100 flats for sale, and real estate professionals have received around 3300 applications for these homes. HBD is now working on a new resale portal that is launched recently into the market, and it is capable enough to complete all the transactions fast. The process can be completed almost in 8 to 16 weeks only. In a recent gathering, HBD also said that the new age housing units would be designed by considering the basic needs of Singaporeans to ensure a comfortable and relaxing living space for them.
For more info, refer to link below,
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/fewer-build-to-order-flats-to-be-launched-next-year
