In his latest blog entry, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said the most recent launch of Build-To-Order (BTO) and Sale of Balance (SBF) flats in September is “making good progress” in meeting housing needs.
In the post entitled “Light at End of Tunnel”, Mr Khaw revealed that the launch of more than 8,200 new flats — 5,400 BTO flats and 2,800 SBF flats — have attracted a total of 27,900 applications, of which 15,500 are first-timers.
The BTO exercise saw an average application rate of 1.7 times, while the balance flats were remarkably popular, with several mature estates over 50 times oversubscribed.
The Minister stated that nearly all of the 6,700 applicants who chose BTO projects with an application rate of below two will likely have a chance to select a flat. “This is because not all who are asked to select do so. Many will pass up the chance,” he explained.
“This September launch has redressed part of the shortage in public housing. Our efforts in ramping up HDB flat supply will help stabilise the market. We are beginning to see some light at the end of the BTO tunnel,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the SBF flats saw a high application rate averaging 6.5 times, many of which are in mature estates and either completed or almost completed.
“Although the SBF application rate averaged 6.5 times, there is a wide range of application rates among the SBF projects ranging from 0.3 times to 52 times. One can therefore improve one’s success rate by thinking carefully about which project to apply for,” he wrote.
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