SINGAPORE: The Housing & Development Board (HDB) will be launching over 25,000 new flats this year, according to Minister for National Development Desmond Lee. This includes 19,600 Build-to-Order (BTO) flats across three sales exercises and over 5,500 Sale of Balance (SBF) flats in a single sale exercise.
Of the 19,600 BTO flats, 3,800 are Shorter Waiting Time (SWT) flats, with a waiting period of under three years. This is an increase from 2,876 SWT flats offered last year and more than the committed annual supply of 2,000 to 3,000 SWT flats.
Under the new classification framework, the new flats will include Standard, Plus, and Prime flat types located in areas like Bukit Merah, Kallang/Whampoa, Mount Pleasant, Queenstown, Sembawang, Woodlands, and Yishun, as reported by the Singapore Business Review.
Minister Lee said, “With the planned offer of another 19,600 BTO flats in 2025, we are on track to launch about 102,300 BTO flats from 2021 to 2025, exceeding our commitment to launch 100,000 new flats over the 5-year period.”
Over the past four years, HDB has increased the number of BTO flats to address the rising demand for housing, launching around 82,700 units between 2021 and 2024.
According to property consultancy Huttons, the resale market is expected to see its lowest supply of flats reaching the five-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) in 2025, with about 7,000 units.
This drop is largely due to the pause of construction work during the 2020 pandemic, which slowed down the completion of many projects. Huttons added that with more BTO and SBF flats, buyers will have more options, which is expected to help stabilise the resale market. SWT flats will also provide more options for buyers and could draw some demand away from the resale market.
As there are more BTO and SBF flats, including SWT flats, it is expected to help balance the market and ease the shortage of MOP flats.
HDB resale transactions are projected to range between 26,000 and 28,000, while resale prices are likely to rise at a slower rate of 5% to 8% this year, down from the growth seen last year. /TISG
Read also: Rental prices for private homes and HDB flats to rise 2% to 4% in 2025 amid shrinking supply
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