The October BTO exercise includes Crawford Heights, a Prime project in the Kallang-Whampoa estate (Picture: HDB)
A total of 8,573 new HDB flats have been launched for sale under the October 2024 Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise. The flats are being offered across 15 projects in nine HDB towns, making it the largest number of projects launched in a single BTO exercise, according to HDB.
The October BTO exercise marks the debut of the new classification framework that categorises flats in Prime, Plus and Standard flats, based on locational attributes. It is also the first exercise where singles are eligible to buy two-room flexi flats in any location.
The exercise has one Prime project – Crawford Heights – located along Crawford Street in the Kallang-Whampoa estate. Consisting of a single 40-storey tower, it has 312 units of three- and four-room flats, making up 3.6% of total flats offered in the October exercise. Prices for the units excluding grants start from $390,000 for a three-room flat and from $568,000 for a four-room flat.
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The Crawford Heights project will also pilot HDB’s “White flats” concept, where homebuyers can opt for a contiguous living and bedroom space without internal partition walls. Prices for White flats will be lower by $6,000 and $8,600 for 3-room and 4-room flats respectively.
There are a total of seven Plus projects in the October exercise, located across four estates: Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Geylang and Kallang-Whampoa.
In Ang Mo Kio, Central Trio @ AMK on ANg Mo Kio Central 3 will offer 422 two-room flexi and four-room flats, with prices from $187,000 and $481,000 respectively.
In Bedok, 1,792 flats are being offered across three projects (Bayshore Vista, Bayshore Palms and Kembangan Wave). They comprise two-room flexi, three-room and four-room flats, with prices from $190,000, $369,000 and $453,000 respectively.
In Geylang, the Merpati Alcove project, next to Mattar MRT Station on Merpati Road, has 265 community care apartments (CCA) available on a 30-year lease priced from $102,000. It also has 168 four-room flats available priced from $530,000.
In Kallang-Whampoa, two projects (Kallang View on Upper Boon Keng Road and Towner Breeze on May Road) offer 626 units of two-room flexi, three-room and four-room flats from $216,000, $388,000 and $522,000 respectively.
Meanwhile, nearly 5,000 flats are being offered across Standard projects, making up about 58% of the total flats being launched in the October BTO exercise. The Standard flats are located in Bukit Batok, Jurong West, Pasir Rias, Sengkang and Woodlands.
According to HDB, Plus and Prime flats are priced with additional subsidies to keep them affordable. However, they are subject to tighter resale and rental conditions, including a longer minimum occupation period (MOP) of 10 years and a requirement to repay HDB a portion of the subsidies received when purchasing the flats upon resale. The clawback percentage differs depending on the project.
Under the October BTO exercise, the Prime project in Kallang-Whampoa will have a subsidy clawback of 9%, while the Plus projects will have a subsidy clawback ranging from 6% to 8%, depending on the project.
Subsidy recovery percentages for Plus and Prime projects in October 2024 BTO exercise
Source: HDB
Eugene Lim, key executive office at ERA Singapore, highlights that Prime and Plus also face tighter restrictions in terms of the pool of potential buyers. Private property owners looking to downgrade to Plus and Prime resale flats are subject to a longer wait-out period of 30 months, compared to 15 months to buy a Standard resale flat.
Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia, anticipates that Crawford Heights, the sole Prime project for this exercise, will see strong demand given its location which is near the Lavender MRT Station, North Bridge Road Market & Food Centre and the Marina Reservoir.
However, he notes that the project is being launched alongside two Plus projects in the Kallang-Whampoa estate, with units at the latter two being cheaper. “A 4-room flat in Crawford Heights is priced at $568,000 while a 4-room flat in Kallang View and Towner Breeze is priced lower at $539,000 and $522,000,” he points out. “Buyers will have to weigh whether it is worth paying an additional $30,000 and the higher clawback subsidy of 9% for the slight difference in location.”
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Lee also expects Central Trio @ AMK, which is a Plus project under the October BTO exercise, to see a robust response. He highlights that a four-room flat at the project is priced from $481,000. This is less than the launch price for a four-room flat at Central Weave @ AMK, which is located just opposite. Central Weave @ AMK was launched for sale in the August 2022 BTO exercise and received a high application rate of nearly 13 times for a four-room flat that was priced from $535,000 at the time.
Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee Group, adds that Central Trio @ AMK is near the Ang Mo Kio MRT Station and two shopping malls, while also being close to educational institutions that will be draw for families with school-going children.
Both Lee and Sun believe that the Bedok projects in the October exercise, all categorised as Plus projects, will be well-received.
Two of these projects are located in the upcoming Bayshore estate. “Many applicants have been waiting for the Bayshore BTO since HDB unveiled the master plan for the Bayshore estate in October 2023. There had not been a public housing project in East Coast since the first sea-facing flats were built in Marine Parade in the 1970s,” remarks Lee. Sun adds that the Bayshore projects are close to the Bayshore MRT Station and schools such as Temasek Primary and Secondary School, Tao Nan School and Victoria Junior College.
The third Bedok project is located in Kembangan, close to the Kembangan MRT Station. It will offer two-room flexi and four-room flats. While Sun expects strong competition for the larger units, she believes the two-room flexi flats will also likely be popular among singles, especially those who work in the east in areas such as Changi Business District.
Among the Standard flats, ERA’s Lim believes that projects with shorter waiting times may see more demand. According to HDB, 7 out 10 flats on offer will have a waiting time of four years or less. The projects at Sengkang and Bukit Batok have the shortest waiting time of less than three years, while Pasir Ris projects Costa Riviera I & II have a waiting of slightly over three years.
Lim sees the Pasir Ris projects as a standout. “The twin projects at Pasir Ris are located within walking distance of an MRT station, which could be a major selling point for many interested applicants – especially those with family living in the area. We expect the four- and five-room flat options to be among the most popular choices for first-timer applicants.”
The projects in Sengkang could also see demand, owing to their locations near an LRT station and amenities such as Seletar Mall, Lim adds.
Flat applications for the October BTO exercise will close on Oct 23.
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