Fresh demand for older flats as frustration builds over BTO

KELVIN Lim, senior marketing director at real estate agency ERA Realty Network, often advises potential homebuyers to apply for built-to-order (BTO) flats under the Housing and Development Board (HDB) if they are eligible - even if it means he loses out on sale commissions.

"It is still the go-to housing choice for young families or couples who have just started out in the workforce and do not possess much savings," Lim says.

In order to make these new HDB flats accessible to the majority of Singaporeans - about 4 in 5 citizens live in public housing - they are heavily subsidised.