Overall subscription rate for BTO flats down in November

Tampines GreenCourt is nestled within the tranquil living environment of Tampines North, with several nearby parks.

Despite the robust demand seen for three- and four-room flats in Tampines and Geylang, the overall subscription rate for Build-to-Order (BTO) flats continued to fall during the November sales exercise, reported Today Online.

As at 5pm on 20 November (Monday), more than three applicants were vying for the four-room flats in Eunos Court at Geylang, or 1,848 applications for the 538 units offered.

Three-room flats in Tampines GreenCourt received 193 applications for the 186 units offered, while four-room flats in Northshore Edge at Punggol attracted 466 applications for the 192 units available.

PropNex’s chief executive officer Mohd Ismail attributed the strong demand in Geylang to its location, which is “much closer to town”.

“Also, people understand that a flat with good location… when it matures after the five-year minimum occupation period… tend to have a huge capital appreciation.”

Analysts, however, noted a continuing downward trend in the number of applications received for BTO flats.

The overall subscription rate for three-room and larger flats, for instance, fell to 1.5 from 1.7 during the August exercise. The rate stood at 2.9 in May and 3.3 in February.

“Overall application rate is fairly low, less than two times. This implies that homebuyers’ demand is been met,” said ZACD Group executive director Nicholas Mak.

“If HDB were to increase the supply of BTO flats next year, it could possibly lead to a glut in the near future,” he said.

Another reason cited for the lower subscription rate is the volume of flats offered.

“Homebuyers have a wide (variety of) choices, and there is relatively ample supply (of flats) this round… As long as HDB continues to provide adequate numbers, the subscription rate will tend to be relatively lower,” said Ismail.

This article was edited by Keshia Faculin.