31-07-2025
3-room and bigger Tampines, Toa Payoh BTO flats most popular with first-timers in July HDB launch, Singapore News
Three-room and bigger Built-To-Order (BTO) flats in Tampines and Toa Payoh were the most popular among first-time home buyers in the July 2025 sales exercise which closed on Wednesday evening (July 30).
According to information on HDB's service portal at 5pm, more than 22,000 BTO applications were received.
This was higher than the 13,200 applications received in the February sales exercise, said National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat in a Facebook post on Thursday.
Simei Symphony in Tampines saw nearly 2,400 first-and second-timer families applying for the 240 units of four-and five-room standard flats available.
The project - within walking distance to the Downtown Line's Upper Changi MRT station and the Singapore University of Technology and Design - had more than six first-timer families applying for each of the 140 four-room units, and almost eight first-timer families applying for each of the 100 five-room units.
The last HDB project in the area was Parc Lumiere, a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) development which was completed in 2011.
Over in Toa Payoh, the 741-unit Toa Payoh Ascent received more than 5,800 applications from first-and second-timer families. In particular, there were more than six applications for each of the 468 four-room units.
Located at the junction of Toa Payoh Rise and Braddell Rise, the BTO project is within walking distance to Caldecott MRT station which serves as an interchange for the Circle Line and Thomson-East Coast Line.
Both BTO projects are also popular with first-timer singles with almost 42 applications for each of the 140 units of two-room flexi flats in Tampines, and more than 18 applications for each of the 195 flexi flats in Toa Payoh.
At the Sembawang Beacon project, the first in Sembawang North, there were 905 applications for the 607 units of three-room and bigger BTO flats available.
In his Facebook post, Chee Hong Tat said that the median application rate of 1.4 for three-room and bigger BTO flats among first-timer families was slightly higher than the application rate of 1.1 in February's exercise.
He added that this was lower than that of the three sales launches in 2024, which ranged from 1.6 to 2.6.
The July exercise is also the first since the Housing Board announced that singles applying for new flats can join married couples in getting priority access when they buy a home near or with their parents.
The new Family Care Scheme (Proximity) streamlines three priority schemes and allows both parents and children to have priority access if they are applying for a new flat to live with or near each other, regardless of marital status.
A second component of the scheme, which grants singles priority if they jointly apply for two units in the same BTO project with their parents, will kick in from the October sales exercise. Continued demand for two-room flexi flats
Demand for two-room flexi BTO flats remained strong among single and seniors with over 7,000 applications for the 1,321 two-room flexi flats available.
Across the seven projects offering two-room flexi flats, the median application rate was 2.5 for seniors and 8.4 for singles.
Meanwhile, the median application rate for first-timer families for Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) dropped to 1.8, from 2.6 in February 2025.
Three-room SBF flats in Ang Mo Kio, Choa Chu Kang, Geylang, Jurong East/West, Kallang Whompoa, Queenstown, Toa Payoh and Woodlands were least chosen by first-timer families, with less than one application per unit.
HDB will offer about 9,100 flats in Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Bishan, Bukit Merah, Jurong East, Sengkang, Toa Payoh and Yishun for the next sales exercise in October.
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