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August 2023 HDB BTO flats review: Tengah

August 2023 HDB BTO flats review: Tengah
PHOTO: 99.co

Among the August 2023 HDB BTO projects, the Tengah BTO will be one of the two projects offering five-room flats. The other project offering the flat type is Choa Chu Kang BTO.

August 2023 Tengah HDB BTO at a glance

Location Along Plantation Close
Classification Non-mature estate
Flat types and number of units 1,010 

 

Two-room Flexi

Three-room

Four-room

Five-room

Estimated price for a 4-room flat* $370k – $460k
Estimated waiting time TBC
Estimated completion date TBC
Delivery possession date TBC
Nearest MRT Tengah Park MRT
Notable amenities  Neighbourhood centre, Le Quest Shopping Mall, Jurong Polyclinic, Jurong East Sports Centre

August 2023 Tengah HDB BTO: Price range and estimated monthly instalments

HDB hasn't released the price range yet. For now, here's SRX's estimations based on nearby resale transactions and launch prices from recent BTO launches.

Flat type Price range 
Three-room $250,000 – $300,000
Four-room $370,000 – $460,000
Five-room $480,000 – $600,000

Source: SRX. These estimations have been adjusted for differences in property age and location. If a launch is nearer to an MRT or commercial development, it’s likely to be more expensive.

Estimated downpayment, monthly instalments and income

Based on these pricing forecasts, we can estimate the downpayment, monthly instalments and household income needed to pay for the August 2023 Tengah BTO flat. These estimates are based on the following assumptions:

  • An HDB loan is taken to maximise the 80 per cent loan-to-value (LTV), given the latest changes in LTV
  • The loan tenure is 25 years, with the current interest rate of 2.6 per cent
  • A stress-test rate of three per cent is used to calculate the Mortgage Servicing Ratio (MSR), which stipulates that up to 30 per cent of your monthly household income can be used to pay the monthly instalments.
  • There is no other housing loan to service

To illustrate, we'll use the median of the price range and won't be taking into account any CPF grants or savings to be used.

Flat type Median price Loan amount (80 per cent) Downpayment (20 per cent) Estimated monthly instalment (with 2.6 per cent interest rate) Estimated monthly household income (with three per cent stress-test)
Three-room $275,000 $220,000 $55,000 $998.07 $3,477.53
Four-room $415,000 $332,000 $83,000 $1,506.18 $5,247.93
Five-room $540,000 $432,000 $108,000 $1,959.85 $6,828.63

August 2023 Tengah HDB BTO: Location and nearby amenities

Disclaimer: Walking, public transport ride and driving durations are based on Google Maps estimates. Actual times may vary.

Accessibility

We like that this August 2023 Tengah BTO is located in front of Tengah Park MRT (to be ready in 2028) on the Jurong Region Line (JRL), making it very convenient for residents to get to other areas in the west region and the rest of the island.

Meanwhile, drivers will be pleased to know that the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) entrances and exits are located just down the road via Bukit Batok Road.

At the same time, with these conveniences, you should be prepared for some noise pollution coming from the elevated track of the JRL and the PIE.

Food and retail amenities

Based on the BTO map, the nearest food and retail amenity will be the neighbourhood centre along Plantation Crescent, which is currently under construction. It will probably be completed by the time this August 2023 Tengah BTO is completed. But we predict it will take a few years before more shops are established here.

The good thing about this BTO is its location at the southern edge of Tengah. So you can easily head to the more developed neighbouring estates for daily necessities as the town gets more developed.

In fact, this BTO is across the street from Bukit Batok West, where you can find a few supermarkets such as NTUC Fairprice and Sheng Shiong Supermarket. There's also a wide range of eateries and mom-and-pop shops at Bukit Batok West Shopping Centre.

Moreover, this Tengah BTO is around a 13-minute walk to Le Quest Shopping Mall (which is integrated with Le Quest condo). As of writing, it has an NTUC Fairprice Finest and a good range of fast food outlets.

Next to Le Quest is the upcoming Harmony Village, a Community Care Apartment project featuring a hawker centre. It's expected to be completed by 2024.

For even more retail therapy options, you can always head to Jurong East, where you have three malls to explore: JEM, Westgate and IMM.

Schools

For future parents, there are a few primary schools within one-kilometre of this August 2023 Tengah BTO to choose from:

  • Bukit View Primary (moving to Bukit Batok West in 2027)
  • Pioneer Primary (moving to Tengah in 2026)
  • Princess Elizabeth Primary (and MOE Kindergarten)
  • Jurong Primary

Meanwhile, the BTO falls slightly outside the one-kilometre radius of the new ACS (Primary) campus in Tengah, which will open in 2030.

When it comes to buying a house, it's always good to have a few primary schools within one-kilometre, so that you'll face less competition during the Primary One registration.

At the same time, given that Tengah is the newest HDB town, it will naturally be home to many young families in the years to come. So it's expected that more parents will be vying for a seat for their school-going kids during the Primary One registration.

Other than primary schools, there's a good range of schools nearby, including:

  • Bukit Batok Secondary
  • Crest Secondary
  • Jurongville Secondary
  • Shuqun Secondary
  • Millennial Institute
  • Eden School
  • Dulwich College

Healthcare facilities

The nearest polyclinics are Jurong Polyclinic and the upcoming Tengah Polyclinic. The former is located across the PIE and will move 150m from its current location in 2025.

Meanwhile, Tengah Polyclinic is expected to be ready by 2026.

August 2023 Tengah HDB BTO: What's the potential price appreciation?

As the newest HDB town, there's potential for price growth in Tengah. But as it's still being developed, it will take several years before we see property price appreciation here.

Major developments that will help support price growth include the upcoming Jurong Region Line, which will improve transport connectivity for residents here. Jurong Lake District and Jurong Innovation District, which are set to be major employment hubs in the west, will also provide some upside and rental opportunities in the area.

For now, we'll look at the price trends of HDB resale flats in the neighbouring areas (Bukit Batok and Jurong East) over the last 10 years.

Due to a number of recently MOP-ed flats in Bukit Batok entering the resale market (such as West Crest @ Bukit Batok), prices of HDB resale flats in the estate have hit double digits, higher than the price increase for the average price in non-mature estates.

On the other hand, the price increase in Jurong East has generally been lower than those in non-mature estates.

For instance, three-room HDB resale flats in Bukit Batok have recorded a 21.85 per cent increase. It pales in comparison to the price increase for the same flat type in Jurong East (7.83 per cent).

The price growth is even more significant for four-room HDB resale flats in both estates, with prices up by 33.15 per cent for Bukit Batok and 12.35 per cent for Jurong East. The price increase was also very steep between 2020 and 2022, at 43.44 per cent for Bukit Batok and 18.93 per cent for Jurong East.

Meanwhile, prices of five-room HDB resale flats were up by 38.95 per cent in Bukit Batok and 10.45 per cent in Jurong East.

Here are the average resale prices in Bukit Batok and Jurong East so far this year, as of 26 July 2023:

  Bukit Batok Jurong East
Flat type Average price psf Average price  Average price psf Average price
Three-room $550 $402,365 $487 $371,289
Four-room $583 $588,894 $467 $482,820
Five-room  $617 $763,079 $490 $645,339

August 2023 Tengah HDB BTO: What are my chances of getting a queue number?

The last HDB BTO launches nearby this August 2023 Tengah BTO site are Garden Waterfront @ Tengah and Plantation Verge. So we'll use their application rates to gauge the popularity of this BTO.

Here are the application rates of Garden Waterfront @ Tengah during the November 2022 BTO exercise:

Flat type Seniors First-timer singles First-timer families Second-timer families
Two-room 1.2 3.4 0.1 0.5
Three-room NA NA 1.5 16.2
Four-room NA NA 1.9 16.2
Five-room NA NA 2.6 35.2

Meanwhile, the application rates of Plantation Verge was combined with Parc Meadow @ Tengah, which were launched during the May 2023 BTO exercise:

Flat type Seniors First-timer singles First-timer families Second-timer families
Two-room 1.3 3.4 3.5 0.6
Three-room NA NA 0.9 10.5
Four-room NA NA 1.2 11.0
Five-room NA NA 1.8 25.0

(Note that although there's a lot of buzz around Parc Meadow due to its proximity to the new ACS Primary campus, the application rates for first-timers were surprisingly low.)

Based on these application rates, we can safely say that if you're a first-timer applying for a three-room, four-room or five-room flat, you stand a good chance of securing a queue number

If you're a first-timer who's married and aged 40 and below, or have at least one Singaporean child aged 18 and below, you stand a higher chance of securing a queue number if you meet the following conditions:

  • Never owned or sold a residential property before
  • Did not have a chance to book a BTO or SBF flat in the past five years before the flat application

On the other hand, if you're a single planning to apply for a two-room Flexi flat, expect some stiff competition.

This Tengah BTO is one of the only two projects (the other one is Choa Chu Kang BTO) that will be available for singles to apply in this August 2023 BTO exercise. Moreover, seniors will be given priority for the flat type.

If you don't want the long waiting time and you have a bigger budget, you may want to consider getting from the resale market instead. Plus, you have more options as you can buy a bigger flat.

ALSO READ: August 2023 BTO launch sites review: Queenstown, Tengah, Kallang/Whampoa, Choa Chu Kang

This article was first published in 99.co.

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