CLEMENTI UPDATE
On 23 Mar 2012,Fri
WEBSITE :http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/Story/A1Story20120321-334786.html
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Wednesday, Mar 21, 2012
AsiaOne
BTO launch near Trivelis
upsets some would-be buyers 
SINGAPORE - The announcement of a Built-To-Order (BTO) project
to be built in Clementi, just three months after DBSS development
Trivelis was launched right next door, has upset a number of people
who opted to buy the DBSS flats, The Straits Times (ST)
reported.
This is as the prices of DBSS developments are usually
significantly higher than BTO flats, and Trivelis buyers say they
would not have bought DBSS units had they known there was a BTO
project coming up near by.
Last October, EL Development launched Trivelis, to be located
along Clementi Ave 4.
The 888 units saw a high take up rate of about 80 per cent, as
buyers snapped them up due to their good location. According to EL,
the site is a five minute walk to Clementi MRT and Bus
Interchange.
It is also located near three shopping centres and the National
University of Singapore.
In January this year, HDB announced the launch of a 670-unit BTO
project right next to Trivelis - next to Clementi Avenue and
Commonwealth Avenue junction.
According to ST, the prices for the BTO flats could be as much
as 25 per cent lower than the Trivelis units. The cost of Trivelis
units range from $375,000 for the cheapest three-room flat, to as
high as $770,000 for a five-room flat.
However, analysts interviewed sounded a note of caution for
Trivelis buyers thinking of dropping out: The popularity of
Clementi as a mature estate means that they face a high chance of
not getting a BTO unit.
In addition, those who do not exercise their option to buy their
units will also have to forfeit the deposit., which is 1.25 per
cent of the purchase price.
For a five-room Trivelis unit costing about $700,000, this comes
up to about $8,750.
If they have already exercised their option, the penalty will be
20 per cent of the cost of the flat.
About 100 people who have bought a Trivelis unit have not
exercised their option, ST reported.
EL said that so far, two buyers have pulled out due to the
upcoming BTO launch.
EL spokesperson Lim Yew Soon said that they have received
feedback from buyers, but said that the Clementi BTO project also
came as a shock to them, having only found out in January, at the
same time as the rest of the population.