HDB to launch 17,000 new flats in 2018
SINGAPORE: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) will launch about 17,000 new flats in 2018, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong said in a blog post on Thursday (Dec 14).
"For 2018, HDB will maintain a steady supply of about 17,000 new flats, comparable to the 17,584 flats launched in 2017," he wrote.
"Over the course of the coming year, new flat buyers can look forward to a good spread of projects across mature and non-mature estates, including flats in the new Tengah town.
"In the second half of 2018, we will launch about 1,000 flats in Sembawang, Sengkang and Yishun," he added. "These flats will have shorter waiting times of about 2.5 years, instead of the typical three to four years for most other BTO projects."
He added that the Government would continue to "calibrate our flat supply carefully, taking into account underlying demand and the stability of the HDB resale market".
This year has been "another fruitful year for public housing", said Mr Wong, citing the enhancement of the CPF Housing Grant for first-timer couples as an example of the Government's efforts to help such families move in to their homes more quickly.
About 6,900 first-timer households have benefitted from the enhanced grant, he said, while about 840 households have received higher Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme rent subsidies.
In addition, about 800 households have booked a flat through the first Re-Offer of Balance Flats exercise launched in August.​​
Mr Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex noted that the BTO subscription rate is declining.
"In the last three years the subscription rate has relatively been dropping. For 2017, the last three BTO exercises the subscription rate has been below 2 - 1.5 to 1.7.
"Therefore 17,000 units for next year sounds reasonable to make sure there isn’t a glut and a lot of people will have a good chance of getting it in their first or second attempt."
Mr Donald Han, managing director of Hospitality Strategies Asia Pacific said that the steady stream of new flats is unlikely to impact the private property market.
“It is a market which private property cannot provide because these properties provided by BTO are generally less than half a million in terms of total budget. And those which are offered by private property are beginning to hover around the $800,000 entry level and beyond. So two different segments of market altogether.
"Each have got its own roles - both are pillars, foundation that support different segments of the market. But I think generally it doesn’t have much of an impact bearing into 2018 and even looking into the effect on prices and supply of each other."
Additional reporting by Wendy Wong.
Source: CNA/nc