Nearly 9,000 BTO and balance flats for sale in May launch

CORRECTION: In our previous report, we stated: "The flats are priced from $73,000 for a two-room Flexi in Woodlands, to $622,000 for a Three-Generation (3Gen) flat in Bidadari". This is inaccurate. We have corrected it in the report below.

SINGAPORE - Over 8,700 flats were launched for sale on Thursday (May 18) under the Build-To-Order (BTO) and sale of balance flats exercise, the Housing Development Board (HDB) announced in a press release.

More than half of the flats are being made available under the BTO exercise, with 4,802 flats in Woodlands, Yishun, Bidadari (Toa Payoh) and Geylang. This is the second BTO launch of the year.

The flats are priced from $73,000 for a two-room Flexi in Woodlands, and from $622,000 for a Three-Generation (3Gen) flat in Bidadari.

For couples who wish to live with their parents, 3Gen flats have been launched at Marsiling Grove and Woodleigh Hillside.

In addition, 3,946 balance flats will also be up for sale in 11 non-mature towns and 14 mature towns and estates.

Majority of these balance flats are reserved for first-time family applicants, and prices range from $73,000 for a two-room Flexi in a non-mature town to $480,000 for an executive flat in a mature town.

About 48 per cent of the balance flats are already completed and the rest are under construction.

The Deferred Downpayment Scheme, which aims to ease cash flow for senior citizens planning to "right size" their homes, is also being implemented starting from this sales exercise.

Flat owners, aged 55 years and above, who purchase an uncompleted two-room Flexi or three-room flat under this scheme can defer the downpayment on their new flat until they collect their keys.

Application for the new flats can be submitted on HDB InfoWEB from May 18 to May 24.

Applicants can only apply for one type of flat in one town. They can also check their loan eligibility and apply for a letter at https://www.hdb.gov.sg/hleapply.

In a Facebook post, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong encouraged homebuyers who are flexible with location to consider applying for flats in non-mature estates such as Woodlands or Yishun, as the mature estates of Bidadari and Geylang would "tend to be more popular and the application rates higher".

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/LawrenceWongST/posts/1489370931104245[/embed]

Today's launch brings the total number of flats put up for sale in the first half of this year to 12,804.

The next launch of BTO flats will be in August, where about 3,850 flats in Bukit Batok and Seng Kang will be offered, said HDB.

pariel@sph.com.sg