The October HDB Build-to-Order (BTO) sales exercise has seen a notable increase in demand for two-room flexi flats from first-time single applicants, with up to 20 applicants per unit in some estates.

In the recent exercise, eligible first-time singles can now apply for new two-room Flexi flats across projects in all locations under the Housing Board's new classification framework, which deems projects as Standard, Plus or Prime based on factors like proximity to the city centre and transport connectivity, said the Housing Development Board (HDB) in a Facebook post on Monday (Oct 21).

In previous exercises, they were limited to applying for projects in non-mature estates.

This change led to a pent-up demand for two-room Flexi flats from first-time singles, resulting in an overall surge in BTO applications during this exercise, said HDB.

It added that there were nearly 28,200 applications across all flat types received as of 5pm on Monday, with 20 per cent of them being from first-timer single applicants.

This is the highest number of applications since the November 2022 BTO launch and HDB expects to receive about 35,000 to 40,000 applications by the exercise's end on Wednesday, equivalent to an overall rate of about four to five applications per flat.

"This same strong singles demand was also seen back in 2013 when [first-time] singles were first allowed to buy a two-room Flexi flat from HDB, where application rates hit a high of 58 times in the July 2013 BTO sales exercise," it added.

HDB also cited the high proportion of projects with good attributes and 2,000 shorter-waiting-time flats on offer as reasons for the higher application rate. Demand from singles is expected to stabilise as the supply of two-room flexi flats increases over time.

As of 12pm on Tuesday, the two-room flexi flats in Bukit Batok, which have the shortest waiting time of around two years, had over 30 applicants per flat.

Application rates 'fairly uniform' across categories

Plus flats in Kallang Whampoa and Pasir Ris were also popular with singles with about 24 applicants per flat.

The median application rate first-time families applying for three-room and larger flats stood at 2.1 on Monday, slightly higher than the February and June 2024 launches, said HDB, adding that it expects the application rate to be lower than the pre-pandemic norm when the exercise closes.

The application rate has since increased to 2.3.

HDB also said in its Facebook post that application rates for four-room flats across Standard, Plus and Prime categories were "fairly uniform".

Application figures on HDB's website showed four-room flats in Ang Mo Kio, Bedok and Kallang Whampoa were among those that were oversubscribed, with between two and three applicants vying for each unit.

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com

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