Queenstown, Bukit Merah BTO projects see lower demand

Most first-time applicants who applied for the Bukit Merah and Queenstown Build-To-Order (BTO) projects are likely to get a queue number to pick a flat.

Both projects, which come under the prime location public housing (PLH) model, saw less demand than previous PLH projects.

As at 5pm yesterday, there were three first-time applicants vying for each of the 1,226 four-room flats at the Bukit Merah Ridge BTO project.

At the Ghim Moh Ascent BTO project, located in the mature estate of Queenstown, 2.7 first-time applicants were vying for each of the 671 four-room flats.

In contrast, more than five first-time applicants were vying for each of the 680 four-room flats on offer in the Rochor BTO project - the first to fall under the PLH model - launched last November.

Competition was even stiffer for the second PLH project, launched in Kallang/Whampoa in February, with nearly 11 first-time applicants vying for each of the 294 four-room flats available.

Most of the first-time applicants in the latest PLH projects are likely to be issued a queue number as the Housing Board issues three times as many queue numbers as the flat supply, in anticipation of those who opt not to pick a flat. For example, if a BTO project has 1,000 available units, up to 3,000 applicants will receive a queue number.

Under the PLH model, flat owners are subject to a 10-year minimum occupation period and a 6 per cent subsidy clawback when they sell their home for the first time.

There were more three-room flats available than first-time applicants in both the Bukit Merah and Queenstown projects, which means that all these first-time applicants will likely get to book a unit.

At the Bukit Merah BTO project, prices range from $377,000 to $509,000, without grants, for a three-room flat, and $540,000 to $737,000 for a four-room flat.

Prices at the Queenstown project range from $369,000 to $481,000 for a three-room flat, and $511,000 to $691,000 for a four-room flat.

Both projects have a waiting time of around five years, or 60 months.

The HDB had launched a total of 4,583 BTO flats and 1,952 units under the Sale of Balance Flats scheme last Friday in the second sales exercise of the year, which closed at 11.59pm last night. The flats will be allocated through balloting.

Home seekers made a beeline for the BTO project in the mature estate of Toa Payoh - which does not fall under the PLH model - with more than six first-time applicants vying for each of the 165 four-room flats available.

Those hoping to land a bigger unit in the non-mature estates of Yishun and Jurong West face even greater competition.

In Yishun, there were nearly nine first-time applicants vying for each of the four-room and five-room flats at a site bounded by Yishun Avenue 2 and Yishun Central 1.

In Jurong West, there were more than eight first-time applicants vying for each of the five-room flats and five first-time applicants for each of the four-room flats at a site near Lakeside MRT station.

Huttons Asia senior director of research Lee Sze Teck said the application rates in this round showed that distance from the city centre matters for PLH projects.

"The farther from the city centre, the lower (the number of) applications. This is consistent with the land rent theory that price and demand decrease as the distance from the Central Business District increases," he said.

Given that the two latest PLH projects drew fewer applications, it could be worth looking into whether sites outside the city centre should come under the model, he said.

"Evidently, buyers are not sold on the idea of PLH flats outside the city centre. Perhaps the HDB can take a leaf out of the private market's book and use the definition of core central region as the boundaries for PLH flats."