Tanjong Rhu, Queenstown, Chencharu flats offered in HDB’s Feb BTO launch
Excluding grants, the prices range from a starting price of S$108,000 for a two-room flexi flat in Yishun to S$554,000 and up for a four-room unit in Queenstown
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).
Including the 5,590 Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) launched for sale, the largest SBF exercise to date, a total of 10,622 flats are available for sale, the HDB said.
BTO 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 up for a two-room flexi flat in Yishun to S$554,000 and up 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, selling restrictions and varying subsidies for each category.
This replaced the previous classification of mature and non-mature estates, under which mature estate flats were more popular. They were developed earlier, in better locations with more amenities, and have been priced to reflect their higher demand.
Three of the five BTO projects offered in February are under the Standard flats category.
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These include 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 flats on offer.
Of the two remaining projects offered in this exercise, one is the Stirling Horizon project in Queenstown under the Plus flats category, with 1,126 flats on offer; the other is the Tanjong Rhu Parc Front project in Kallang/ Whampoa under the Prime flats category, with 812 flats on offer.
Eight out of 10 BTO flats offered in February have waiting times of four years or under. 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; those in Chencharu Green have a waiting time of 38 months.
Noting that this round’s large supply of SBF units could siphon attention from BTO flats, PropNex chief executive officer Ismail Gafoor estimates the BTO flat application rate to be around three times lower than the application rate of 4.2 times for the October 2024 exercise.
However, ERA Singapore’s key executive officer Eugene Lim said that the shorter waiting times of flats for the Chencharu projects in Yishun could “draw some resale buyers back to the BTO sales launches”.
Their proximity to amenities such as Khatib MRT station and Chencharu’s status as an “up-and-coming area in Yishun” could also appeal to homebuyers, said Lim.
OrangeTee Group’s chief researcher and strategist Christine Sun notes that Stirling Horizon is “one of the largest public housing projects launched in Queenstown in recent years”. With its proximity to amenities such as the Ikea store in Alexandra, shopping malls, Queenstown MRT station and various schools, Sun thinks the project may be “particularly appealing” for families.
Given the “impressive overall application rate” received by Holland Vista, another BTO project launched in Queenstown, Sun believes Stirling Horizon will also have a high application rate.
Sun notes the central location of the Tanjong Rhu Parc Front project in Kallang/ Whampoa, which is near the CBD and Marina Bay. As the previous BTO launch in the Tanjong Rhu vicinity – the Tanjong Rhu Riverfront I and II developments in June 2024 – attracted a high number of applicants, Sun thinks applicants who were unsuccessful in securing a 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 enable a buyer of a Standard flats in Yishun to purchase a three-room flat starting at S$140,000, or a four-room flat starting at S$236,000, the HDB said.
To participate in the BTO or SBF exercises, 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 is from Feb 10 to 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.
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