June BTO exercise enjoys strong reception, application hit highest in nearly two years

Tampines, Queenstown and Chencharu projects were the most popular.

The latest round of Build-to-Order (BTO) exercise has received strong interest with the volume of applicants more than doubling to 24,179 from just 11,176 applicants in February, according to the Housing and Development Board (HDB) 

The June exercise now holds the highest number of applicants in nearly two years or since November 2022 when applicants exceeded 24,000, based on experts’ analysis of HDB data as of 2 pm, Wednesday.

The application rate also improved to 3.1 times from 2.7 times in February, recording the highest participation rate in a year or since May 2023 (3.8).

Huttons said the robust results might be partly due to the impending change in the classification of flats for the October BTO exercise since this month will be the last round where buyers will have fewer restrictions. 

Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex, said attractive projects also helped attract more home seekers in the latest campaign, including those in Tampines, Queenstown, and the new Chencharu estate in Yishun.

Gafoor highlighted that the application rate for Tampines GreenTopaz hit 9.1 times, the highest for a town since the Serangoon North Vista project had a 14.5 times participation rate in May 2023.

“As expected, the overall demand for 5-room and 3-GEN BTO flats is robust… It is evident that larger BTO flats remain the most popular,” he added.

OrangeTee & Tie chief researcher and strategist Christine Sun said Yishun Chencharu Hills emerged as a “dark horse” as sales turned out better than expected. 

“The good sales performance suggests that many young couples are receptive to residing in Chencharu, despite it being a new residential area in a non-mature estate,” Sun said.