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THE Housing and Development Board (HDB) launched a total of 5,032 flats for sale under its February 2025 Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise on Monday (Feb 10).

New flats available in this exercise are offered across five projects in Kallang/Whampoa, Queenstown, Yishun, and Woodlands towns, with flat types ranging from two-room flexi to five-room flats, the HDB said on Monday.

Excluding grants, starting prices range from S$108,000 and upwards for a two-room flexi flat in Yishun to S$554,000 and upwards for a four-room unit in Queenstown.  

Flats are available across all three categories – Standard, Plus and Prime – under the new BTO classification framework, which took effect in October 2024, with tiered buying and selling restrictions and varying subsidies for each category.

This replaced the previous classification of mature and non-mature estates, whereby mature estate flats are more popular, developed earlier, in better locations with more amenities, and have prices reflecting their higher demand.  

Three of the five BTO projects offered in February are under the Standard flats category. 

This includes the Chencharu Vines and Chencharu Green projects in Yishun, with a total of 1,531 units on offer, and the Woodlands North Verge project – the first BTO project to be launched in the new Woodlands North Coast precinct – with 1,563 two-room flexi to five-room flats on offer. 

The two remaining projects offered in this exercise include the Stirling Horizon project in Queenstown under the Plus flats category and the Tanjong Rhu Parc Front project in Kallang/ Whampoa under the Prime flats category. 

Eight out of 10 BTO flats offered in February have waiting times of four years or less. Among these, the 1,531 flats in Yishun have even shorter waiting times of just over three years. Flats from the Chencharu Vines project have a waiting time of 37 months and flats under the Chencharu Green project have a waiting time of 38 months. 

ERA Singapore’s key executive officer Eugene Lim said that the shorter waiting times of flats for the Chencharu projects in Yishun, as well as their close proximity to amenities including Khatib MRT station, could appeal to homebuyers. 

“For some, BTO flats are not a viable option due to the long waiting time of five to six years… the shorter wait time could potentially draw some resale buyers back to the BTO sales launches, particularly (as) Chencharu is an up-and-coming area in Yishun that has existing amenities and MRT access,” said Lim.

OrangeTee Group’s chief researcher and strategist Christine Sun said the Stirling Horizon project in Queenstown may be particularly appealing for families as it is close to amenities such as the Ikea store in Alexandra, shopping malls, Queenstown MRT station and various schools.

Sun expects the project to have a high application rate, given that another BTO launch in the Queenstown area in June 2024 for the Holland Vista project saw an “impressive overall application rate”. 

She noted the central location of the Tanjong Rhu Parc Front project in Kallang/ Whampoa, which is close to the CBD and Marina Bay. Given that the previous launch within the Tanjong Rhu vicinity received a high number of applicants, Sun believes that applicants who were unsuccessful in securing a BTO flat then are likely to apply for this project.

Huttons Asia’s senior director of data analytics Lee Sze Teck expects the Woodlands North Verge project to receive an application rate of between two and three for four-room flats. He highlighted that Woodlands North is an “upcoming economic hub” near the upcoming Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit (RTS) Link that is set to commence service by late 2026.

Eligible first-timer families may apply for the increased Enhanced Central Provident Fund Housing Grant of up to S$120,000. This will allow buyers of Standard flats in Yishun to purchase a three-room flat starting from S$140,000 or a four-room flat starting from S$236,000, the HDB said. 

To participate in the exercise, applicants must have a valid HDB flat eligibility letter when they submit their flat application. 

They may apply for one flat type in one town during the eight-day application period, which starts on Feb 10 and ends on Feb 17. 

Applications can be made online through HDB’s flat portal and applicants need not visit the HDB hub. HDB will shortlist applicants using a computer ballot and not on a first-come-first-serve basis.