| | | |  | | | Perspective of Fernvale Vista project | | | | | | | SINGAPORE : Property agents expect the overwhelming demand for two-room flats at Fernvale Vista in Sengkang to translate into more such developments in the future.
But they say the enthusiastic response for this pilot project might not be indicative of demand for such flats in other areas.
Applications for the units at Fernvale Vista ended on Monday, and there has been high demand across the board.
The 86 two-room flats, first to be build by HDB in over 20 years, were three times over-subscribed.
Meanwhile, the 330 four-room units attracted nearly 900 applications.
But three-room housing remained most popular with four applicants vying for each unit of the 92 put up for sale.
The smaller units, which are priced below S$75,000 are targeted at the lower income families and young couples.
Property agents say the success of subsequent projects hinges on a few factors.
Eugene Lim, Assistant Vice President, Business Development, ERA, said, "It all depends on whether we will see similar design features...in terms of exactly where the locations are...the target group of buyers are very price sensitive and they actually depend a lot on the amenities and the transport system."
Development of more two-room and three-room units are in the pipeline as the HDB plans to convert bigger unsold flats in Jurong and Sengkang into smaller ones.
And demand projections for those flats look promising.
Mohamed Ismail, CEO, Propnex, said, "40 percent of the current two-room houses all come from central area...the outer areas do not have many two rooms at all...if you talk about Jurong as an estate, you have a big catchment of population, but the number of two rooms...there aren't many, less than 50...as such I do see...because of aging population in that area...there will be some good demand."
Still, industry players believe such integrated housing projects with a combination of two-room, three-room and four-room units will continue to be popular as they offer a good mix of residents and remove the stigma of living in a poor neighbourhood. - CNA/ms
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