MORE CHANCES FOR SECOND-TIMERS?

Balloting rules for second-time buyers of new HDB flats will be tweaked to improve their chances, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said yesterday.

Writing on his blog, Mr Khaw did not elaborate on the possible changes. But he said the changes will likely be made towards the end of next year, "after we have cleared most of the first-timer queue".

Sharing the statistics for the July Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise, Mr Khaw noted: "As only 5 per cent of new flats were reserved for second-timers, their success rate is low."

Apart from being eligible for just a small proportion of the new flats, second-time buyers - unlike first-time buyers - only have one chance at the ballot.

In the July BTO exercise, 3,556 flats were on offer. More than 11,000 applications were reportedly received.

According to Mr Khaw, about one in 10 of second-time buyers was invited to pick a flat, of whom 54 per cent chose to do so.

In comparison, 73 per cent of first-time buyers were successful in the queue. Of these, about 60 per cent took up the offer to select a flat.
This is an improvement from previous launches, when only about half of first-time buyers did so.

"With this ramped-up construction programme and priority in treatment, newlyweds now stand a very high chance of succeeding in BTO selection," Mr Khaw wrote.

Property analysts noted that there is a significant pool of second-time buyers including families with young children and upgraders. By turning its attention to this group - and increasing their balloting chances for new flats - the Government would also address the shortage of resale flats and stabilise the prices in this segment, they added.

SLP International research head Nicholas Mak said: "As more second-timers go for a new flat, this will reduce demand (for resale flats) and hence stabilise the price of resale flats - in line with the Government's policy of making homes more affordable for everyone."

ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim said that apart from increasing the quota of new flats set aside for second-timers, the Government could also tweak the resale levy to help this group. "But I would not suggest removing the resale levy altogether as it will just send a flood of second-timers seeking a new flat," said Mr Lim.

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail reiterated that the focus "must still be on the first-timers". He said: "New generations of first-timers will always come and their needs have to be addressed."