Tag Archives: BTO

3,500 applicants barred after cancelling HDB booking

Posted on 7 Nov 2014 | Comments Off on 3,500 applicants barred after cancelling HDB booking

Since March 2012, about 3,500 applicants who cancelled their booking for a HDB flat have been barred from buying BTO flats for one year.

In a written response to a query in yesterday’s parliamentary session, Minister of National Development Khaw Boon Wan said, “The measure to impose a one-year debarment on HDB flat buyers who cancel their bookings is to discourage frivolous booking. Such behaviour is unfair to genuine flat buyers who may otherwise be crowded out.”

When asked if HDB will consider allowing walk-in application and selection of flats under the Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise on a monthly basis, Mr Khaw said the government prefers to accumulate its balance flats and sell them under a SBF exercise when there is a sufficiently large supply.

“This allows applicants more choices of flat types in various locations,” he said.

Flats from the SBF exercise consist balance flats from earlier Build-To-Order (BTO) exercises, surplus Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) replacement flats, and repurchased flats.

These flats are mostly under construction or near completion.

Advertisement

Comments Off on 3,500 applicants barred after cancelling HDB booking

Posted in HDB

Tagged , , , , , ,

Last quarter likely to be quiet

Posted on 2 Nov 2014 | Comments Off on Last quarter likely to be quiet

Prices of private residential property could show slowing declines in Q4 2014, especially for the mass-market segment, according to Knight Frank’s Director and Head of Consultancy and Research Alice Tan.

She predicts prices of non-luxury homes in Outside Central Region (OCR) to fall by another 0.5 to 0.8 per cent in Q4 2014, while prices in the Core Central Region (CCR) are expected to fall by another 1 to 2 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Meanwhile, prices in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) are expected drop by around 0.4 to 0.5 per cent from October to December.

The last quarter of the year is also likely to be a quiet period for project launches in view of the upcoming year-end holiday season. Tan said, “Going forward, the number of new unit launches could remain at current levels, with a marked fall in total number of residential units being made available under the H1 2014 GLS programme, of just 4,600 units.”

Additionally, volumes of the private residential property market are not anticipated to rebound strongly in Q4 2014, but HDB resale transactions may rise, according to OrangeTee.

“However, we expect resale volumes to continue to increase as more and more residential projects (BTO, EC and private) attain TOP and these buyers would have to sell their existing flats within six months, as some private property upgraders would sell to finance their upgrade and to claim ABSD rebate,” Steven Tan, Managing Director of OrangeTee.

By the end of 2014, 17,000 to 18,000 units are likely to be completed, according to JLL, and the supply in each of the next two years is expected to be around 20,000 units or more. “This will intensify competition in the leasing market and exacerbate the softening in rentals,” JLL said.

Comments Off on Last quarter likely to be quiet

Posted in Cooling Measures, Property Market / Real Estate

Tagged , , , , ,