August BTO exercise sees strong demand for larger Ang Mo Kio and Tampines flats
Among the condos in non-mature estates launched, the project in Woodlands saw the greatest application prices at 6.6 for two-room Flexi flats, 8.1 for three-room flats, and 11.7 for four-room apartment or condos. On the other hand, apartments at the projects launched in Choa Chu Kang saw application rates in between 2.0 to 2.6, while the project in Jurong East saw application rates between 4.1 to 6.7.
The August 2022 BTO activity closed on Sept 5, with 39,136 applications for the 4,993 units introduced available. This has to do with 30% more than the about 27,000 applications obtained throughout the May BTO exercise when 4,583 units were introduced, notes Christine Sun, top vice president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie.
Huge flats in older estates saw the highest possible applying rates. 4- and five-room homes at Sun Plaza Spring in Tampines saw application rates of 22.3 as well as 26.3 for the 150 and also 177 available condos, each. For Central Weave@AMK in Ang Mo Kio, the 398 four-room apartments signed up a 12.6 application rate, while five-room and Three-Generation (3Gen) apartments amounting to 372 units acquired a 17.5 application rate.
While PLH units were oversubscribed, Sun claims the application rate was lower than in previous PLH launches. “Maybe the pool of customers has actually diminished considering that several PLH design apartments have been launched over the past year, and also some individuals might have already gotten a unit in the earlier BTO exercises,” she says.
She includes that the 10-year minimum occupation period for PLH flats and more rigorous marketing requirements might have prevented buyers. PLH condo owners go through a clawback aid of 6% when they market their houses for the very first time.
Sun thinks the higher amount of applicants might show much more purchasers looking to the BTO market, considered that BTO units are currently more affordable contrasted to increasing costs of resale flats as well as personal residences. “There have not been numerous new private home release in current months. Consequently, customers currently have much less housing alternatives, specifically for cash-strapped purchasers,” she adds.
Both deals launched under the prime area public housing (PLH) design– Havelock Hillside and Alexandra Vale, both located in Bukit Merah– saw application rates of 2.7 for three-room apartments and 6.1 for four-room units. A total amount of 8,883 applications were obtained for the 1,651 PLH units launched.
Sun attributes the appeal of the properties in mature estates to the sufficient services and proximity to MRT terminals. “The Tampines project also has among the fastest completion periods, around 36 months,” she adds.
