Nearly 34,000 applicants for over 8,500 new BTO flats launched in Oct. 2024

A total of 33,983 applicants have applied for the 8,573 new Build-To-Order (BTO) flats offered by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) in its October 2024 exercise, according to the latest published data.

The BTO exercise closed at 11:59pm on Wednesday, Oct. 23, and HDB was expecting up to 40,000 applications — an oversubscription application rate of four to five times.

The strong demand from singles was evident as about one-third of the applicants, or 10,477, were for 1,902 two-room Flexi flats, which HDB attributed to "pent-up demand" among first-timer singles.

Under the new classification framework, eligible first-timer singles can apply for new two-room Flexi flats across Standard, Plus and Prime projects in all locations.

HDB said on Facebook on Tuesday that such strong demand was also recorded for such flats in 2013, the first time first-timer singles were allowed to buy them.

A total of 23,271 applicants are vying for the three-room and bigger flats.

Undersubscribed projects

However, demand was unevenly distributed as some projects were undersubscribed, while others attracted stronger responses.

The 265 community care flats in Geylang drew a total of 235 applicants.

Least in demand was Taman Jurong Skyline in Jurong West, which had an application rate of 1.2 for three-room flats, 0.7 for the four-room flats, and 0.8 for five-room/3Gen flats.

Oversubscribed projects

The largest Standard flats in Pasir Ris developments Costa Rivera I and II are the most highly coveted, with a three-year waiting period.

The five-room/ 3Gen flats in the two projects have 12.4 applicants vying for each unit.

Standard flats in West BrickVille @ Bukit Batok have 3.5 applicants per three-room flat, 4.3 per four-room flat, 5.9 applicants per five-room/ 3Gen flat.

These flats have two-year waiting period.

Insights into first-timer applicants

The application data also yielded some insights into first-time applicants for Prime flats.

Kallang/Whampoa first-timer applicants

Three-room flats in Plus and Prime projects in Kallang/Whampoa were undersubscribed, with a first-time application rate of 0.8.

This could be due to the the smaller flat size and extended minimum occupation period (MOP), where Plus and Prime flats can be sold only after 10 years, instead of the usual five years for Standard flats.

Four-room flats in Kallang/Whampoa not as hot as some other areas

Four-room flats in Kallang/Whampoa saw an application rate of 2.6 times for first-timer applicants.

This is lower than rate for four-room flats in Ang Mo Kio (3.9 times), Bukit Batok (3.0 times), Pasir Ris (3.4 times) and Woodlands (2.7 times).

Healthy demand for three-room flats in general

The data showed that three-room flats in all the other areas besides Jurong West and Kallang/Whampoa saw healthy demand.

Three-room flats in Bedok just outside the city fringe saw a first-timer application rate of 1.6 times.

Ang Mo Kio four-room flats in demand

The highest first-timer application rate for four-room Plus flats was for Central Trio @ AMK at 3.9 times.

Stipulations for Standard, Plus and Prime flats

The current restriction is that owners of Plus and Prime flats cannot put up their whole flat for rent, but can lease out spare rooms.

The terms for buying and resale for Standard flats, which make up the bulk of new BTO units, remain unchanged.

Background

The October 2024 BTO Exercise closed on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 11:59pm.

This is the first time flats are classified under a new framework.

A total of 8,573 Standard, Plus, and Prime flats across 15 projects were launched in this BTO exercise, HDB said.

Under the new classification framework, eligible first-timer singles can apply for new two-room Flexi flats across Standard, Plus and Prime projects in all locations.

Previously they were limited to applying for projects in the non-mature estates.

The applications from first-timer singles are more than double that of the highest singles applications received in all the BTO exercises over the past two years, HDB added.

In particular, high singles application rates of over 20 times can be seen in the Plus projects in Ang Mo Kio and Kallang/Whampoa, as well as Standard projects in Bukit Batok and Pasir Ris.

Three of these four towns were previously classified as mature estates (ME), HDB said, where singles are now able to buy a new two-room flat for the first time.

The BTO project in Bukit Batok, previously classified as a non-mature estate, has the smallest supply of two-room flats on offer, and this likely accounts for its high application rate.

Top photos via HDB