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THE Housing and Development Board’s latest Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise for October, the first under its new framework, drew 35,678 applicants for the 8,573 new flats by the end of the Wednesday (Oct 23) deadline.

The overall application rate was 4.16, the highest since the 7.8 times recorded in the August 2022 BTO exercise.

Analysts noted that despite the large supply of new flats and the new flat classification kicking in, Plus and Prime projects were “well received”, partly due to the attractive locations of many projects, shorter waiting time and more flexible policies for single buyers.

BTO flats are now classified under Standard, Plus and Prime categories, based on factors such as connectivity to transport nodes, amenities, and distance from the city centre.

Plus and Prime flats have a 10-year minimum occupation period (MOP), and buyers will also be subject to subsidy recovery upon resale, and stricter resale and rental conditions. Even so, Plus and Prime projects still attracted much interest and were all oversubscribed.

“We think this is an early indication of the buy-in for the Plus and Prime flat types,” said Ismail Gafoor, PropNex’s chief executive officer.

“It suggests that many buyers – both first-timers and second-timers – are willing to commit long-term to their flat, and that the additional restrictions are not a dampener on their buying decision, especially if the BTO project is in a choice location,” he added.

Based on overall application rate, the most popular project in this BTO launch batch was Central Trio @ AMK, with an application rate of 7.9 times. The 422 units in this Plus project drew 3,345 applicants.

Gafoor said: “We had expected this project to see strong demand, as new flats in Ang Mo Kio are relatively rare. The previous BTO project offered in this town was in August 2022 – Central Weave @ AMK – which garnered an application rate of 14.1 times.”

Another three Plus projects in Bedok (one in Kembangan and two in Bayshore) collectively garnered an average application rate of 4.9 times. For Kallang-Whampoa, the Plus and Prime flats had an overall application rate of 4.4 across all flat types.

The BTO exercise saw 10,884 single applicants vying for the 1,902 units, with six applicants going after each two-room flexi flat. With this launch, eligible singles could now apply for any two-room flexi flats in any location, when previously they could only apply for units in non-mature estates.

The two-room flexi flats offered at West BrickVille @ Bukit Batok were the most sought after by singles, due to the shorter waiting time, with a 36.2 application rate. This was followed by those at Towner Breeze, a Plus project at Kallang-Whampoa (29.5 application rate), Standard Costa Riviera II at Pasir Ris (28.4 times) and Central Trio @ AMK, another Plus project, with a 26.3 application rate.

This also marks a record for singles applications since the introduction of the two-room flexi scheme in November 2015.

Standard projects in the October exercise also fared well. Projects in Sengkang and Woodlands pulled in application rates of 4.1 and 4.6 respectively, likely due to their proximity to public transport.

Overall, Standard flats, which accounted for 58 per cent of the total BTO units launched in October, pulled in 18,573 applications (52 per cent of overall applications). “This seems quite balanced, and allays some initial concerns that Standard flats may see a deluge of applications, should prospective buyers decide to shun Plus and Prime flats,” said PropNex’s Gafoor.

Larger flats remained popular in this exercise with 5,920 applicants vying for the 1,485 five-room and 3Gen flats on offer, translating to an application rate of four times.

Among the larger flat types, there was “intense competition for such flats among second-timer families”, said the PropNex CEO. There were 138 applications per unit for five-room and 3Gen flats in Pasir Ris, the highest since five-room flats in Serangoon North Vista in the May 2023 BTO exercise drew an application rate of 141.7 times among second-timer families.

In comparison, Standard flats in Taman Jurong Skyline in Jurong West received the lowest application rate among all projects, at 0.9 time. “The interest in Taman Jurong Skyline may be lacklustre due to its long waiting time of 52 months and lack of a nearby MRT station,” said Gafoor.

The next round of the BTO exercise will be held in February 2025, where HDB will offer about 4,960 new flats in four towns, across five projects.