SINGAPORE — Over 8,000 flats across 25 towns and estates will be available for sale from Tuesday (Nov 14), the Housing and Development Board said in announcing the year’s final Build-To-Order (BTO) and Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise.

This latest tranche of flats available for sale, comprising 4,829 BTO units and 3,401 SBF units, brings the total number of public housing units offered this year to 26, 325.

The BTO flats on offer are spread across five projects, including Punggol, Sengkang as well as mature towns like Geylang and Tampines.

The SBF units, most which are reserved for first-timer families, are located across various towns and estates.

For the latest BTO exercise, buyers can select from 2-room Flexi to Three-Generation flats. The prices vary according to locations.

(Table: HDB) 

For example, a 4-room flat at Northshore Edge in Punggol costs about S$227,000 including grants, while the same flat at Eunos Court in Geylang costs about S$517,000 including grants.

The 3,401 balance flats offered under the latest exercise include 759 units of 2-room Flexi, 692 units of 3- room, 1,407 units of 4-room, 460 units of 5-room, 76 units of 3Gen and seven units of executive flats across various towns and estates.

Those interested in applying for the new flats can submit their online applications via the HDB InfoWEB from Tuesday.

Commenting on the prices, property analysts noted the disparity between the mature and non-mature estates.

Mr Chris Koh, director of property firm Chris International, reiterated that units in mature towns are generally more attractive and tend to be priced higher. “The (surrounding) infrastructure… like shopping malls, schools and markets… are already up and running in a mature town like Tampines. This contributes to the higher cost of the flats,” he said.

According to the HDB, the transacted price range of comparable resale 5-room units in the vicinity of the Sengkang BTO projects was similar to those near the Tampines BTO project. The resale units in both locations were sold for between S$505,000 and S$575,000. However, there was significant disparity in the BTO prices of 5-room units in the two locations: A 5-room flat at Anchorvale Village and Fernvale Glades in Sengkang costs about S$331,000 including grants, while a five-room flat at Tampines Court costs about S$438,000 including grants.

Mr Wong Xian Yang, assistant director research & consultancy at OrangeTee, pointed out that the units in Tampines were older, and the age of the units would be factored into the resale value. The resale flats in Tampines are around 21 years old, while the ones in Sengkang are about five to 17 years old, he said. He added: “Launches in mature estates are relatively rare compared to non-mature estates, so prices tend to be higher.”

Mr Koh also suggested that BTO prices in Sengkang and Punggol would be kept low given that more new flats will be built in these areas in the years ahead. Otherwise, “buyers interested in flats (there) will know that they can wait for the next round for lower prices”, he said.

On the number of flats put up for sale in the latest exercise, Mr Ku Swee Yong, co-founder of HugProperty, said the recent subscription rates by first-timers was an “indication that the past six years of BTO launches have more than satisfied the demand for flats”.

He added that there are many first-timers who are “applying in multiple BTO exercises in the hope of finding one that is a perfect fit for their needs”.

This might be “a sign that policy makers should taper down their housing supply for the next two years until the population growth trends up again”, he said.

Majority of the BTO units – 3,880 units – will be constructed using the prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) method, which is aimed at raising the productivity of the construction projects.

In total, about 22 per cent of the BTO flats launched this year will be constructed using PPVC. HDB aims to adopt PPVC for 35 per cent of BTO units launched by 2019.

(Table: HDB) 

Starting from this BTO exercise, the PPVC flats will come with floor and wall finishes, internal doors, window frames, sanitary fittings, and a basecoat of paint, HDB said. This would allow flat buyers to move into their flat more quickly as less renovation works are required, it added.

HDB said the next BTO launch will be held in February next year, when it will offer about 3,600 flats in Choa Chu Kang, Geylang, Tampines and Woodlands. It will concurrently hold a Re-offer of Balance Flats (ROF) exercise, where all flats that remain unsold at the end of the previous SBF exercise will be pooled together and put up for sale.