Would-be home buyers have over 5,000 flats to choose from in the latest Housing Board sales exercise launched yesterday.
The flats being offered for sale are 4,375 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats in Yishun and a new waterfront district in Punggol, and 726 Re-offer of Balance Flats (ROF) units - flats that remain unsold after several exercises.
Prices, excluding grants for the new flats, range from $75,000 for a two-room flexi flat in Yishun to more than $411,000 for a three-generation flat in Punggol.
The Punggol flats, in two housing projects called Punggol Point Cove and Punggol Point Woods, are in a new waterfront district that the HDB launched on Sunday. The two projects are bounded by New Punggol Road and Punggol Way.
There are two BTO projects in Yishun offered for sale. Melody Spring@Yishun is bounded by Yishun Avenue 8 and Yishun Street 42, while Yishun Glen is bounded by Yishun Ring Road, Yishun Street 31 and Yishun Avenue 6.
The balance flats comprise 67 two-room flexi units, 171 three-room units, 294 four-room units, 152 five-room units, 33 three-generation flats, and nine executive flats in various towns.
About 58 per cent of these are already completed, said the HDB.
ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim said he expects the Punggol flats to be more popular despite the higher prices, as they are located near the upcoming Punggol Coast MRT station and the Punggol Digital District.
Some of the flats also have sea views, and are expected to appeal to young families, he added.
The Yishun flats are located farther away from Yishun MRT station, but the comparatively lower prices should help make them attractive, said Mr Lim.
PropNex Realty chief executive Ismail Gafoor said he expects subscription rates for Punggol flats to exceed three to four times the supply available, and an overall application rate of two to 2.3 for the entire exercise. This, he said, is due to the healthy number of units available across a mix of units.
As of 5pm yesterday, the application rate for three-room and larger flats was 0.5. Five-room and three-generation flats in Punggol were already oversubscribed at a rate of 1.1, or 416 applications for 386 units.
The rate was 0.3 for two-room flexi flats, and 1.4 for the ROF units.
Applications close next Monday.
The next BTO launch will take place in November, where the HDB will offer about 3,800 flats in Sembawang, Sengkang, Tampines, Tengah and Yishun.
Apart from the flats in Tampines and Tengah, the projects will have a shorter waiting time of 21/2 years instead of the typical three to four years. They are the first batch of projects with shorter waiting times first announced last year.
