Why The Feb 2026 BTO Launch Saw Muted Demand — Except In One Town

The new projects in the first Built-To-Order (BTO) sales exercise this year saw a mixed reception among hopeful BTO applicants. A Plus project in Toa Payoh drew a “tepid” response, while a pair of Standard projects in Sembawang recorded a “muted” response, according to comments from ERA Realty.

The February BTO sales exercises launched on Feb 4 with the government offering 4,692 BTO flats across six projects in Bukit Merah, Sembawang, Tampines, and Toa Payoh. In addition, 4,320 Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) were concurrently launched.

Read our full review of each BTO project in this month’s sales exercise here.

The sales exercise will conclude at 11:59 pm today, but some preliminary statistics are available. As of 2 pm today, the BTO sales exercise attracted 29,295 applicants, which translates to an overall application rate of 3.3 times.

This is below the average rate of 3.6 recorded during the Oct 2025 BTO sales exercise, which collectively drew in 33,197 applications competing for 9,144 flats.

“These figures point to a more subdued response, even though the total number of flats offered was similar in both exercises. Buyers may have held back in anticipation of attractive options in June 2026’s BTO exercise,” says Eugene Lim, key executive officer of ERA Singapore.

It seems some BTO hopefuls are pinning their hopes on more attractive projects in June this year, which will see HDB offer about 6,900 flats in Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, Bukit Merah, Sembawang, and Woodlands.

The upcoming BTO projects in the June 2026 BTO sales exercise include the first BTO project at Upper Thomson in over 40 years, as well as new flats in the Berlayar estate on the former Keppel Club site.

The prospect of clinching a BTO in one of these prime areas pulled attention away from the sole Prime project in this month’s exercise – the 1,040-unit Redhill Peaks in Bukit Merah, which offered a mix of two-room flexi and three- to four-room flats.

At Redhill Peaks, the price of a three-room flat starts from $385,000 (excluding grants), while a four-room flat is priced from $563,000, according to HDB.

However, Lim characterises the demand for this project as “measured”, adding: “Bukit Merah, which is normally a popular estate when it comes to BTO projects due to its advantageous city fringe location and status as a mature estate full of amenities, saw a relatively lukewarm response this BTO launch.”

This could be attributed to the fact that about 3,000 new flats across four BTO projects in this estate were offered last year. With such a high saturation of new public housing supply in Bukit Merah, it makes sense that there’ll be fewer people in the market for a new flat in the estate.

=Kim Keat Crest in Toa Payoh also saw a less-than-expected application rate, an outcome we opined might be the case in our latest BTO review article. The project saw a modest first-time application rate of 0.6 and 0.8 for the three- and four-bedroom flats, respectively.

BTO applicants were likely turned off by the project’s locations, which put it at least a 20-min walk from Toa Payoh MRT station and Toa Payoh Central.

Indeed, ERA’s Lim pointed out that most BTO projects that require a longer commute to amenities and an MRT station are commonly classified as Standard under HDB’s prevailing location-based framework (Prime, Plus, and Standard).

“Most applicants who are willing to take on the strict resale restrictions for Plus flats, such as the longer 10-year Minimum Occupation period (MOP) and subsidy recovery, look for advantageous location attributes – such as walking proximity to an MRT station. Hence, they might be discouraged from applying for this project,” says Lim.

Previous new BTO projects in Toa Payoh include Mount Pleasant Crest and Toa Payoh Ascent in 2025 – both were both Prime BTO projects.

On the other hand, a pair of Standard projects in Sembawang, the 777-unit Sembawang Deck and the 1,173-unit Sembawang Voyage, also saw a relatively muted response.

Collectively, the four-room flats for both projects recorded an application rate of 0.6 from first-timer families and a 3.3 application rate from second-timer families. Meanwhile, the five-room flats drew in an application rate of just 0.4 from first-timer families and 3.0 from second-timer families.

This is an uncommon result considering that five-room flats are typically among the most over-subscribed units.

The muted response from BTO applicants could stem from the area’s untested and relatively underdeveloped status as an emerging estate.

If you were seriously considering this location, you would have also read the government’s development plans for this estate, which is earmarked to have 8,000 new BTO flats and 2,000 new private homes in the coming years.

Given the runway of future housing supply, buyers have little urgency to apply this round, says Lim.

Meanwhile, application rates for the two-room flexi, three- and four-room flats in Tampines Bliss and Tampines Nova were among the highest in this sales exercise. Mainly, there were 3,223 applicants for 337 four-room flats across both projects, with the application rate of 6.8 and 35.3 to first-timer and second-timer families, respectively.

Tampines Bliss, which will include a new preschool integrated within the public housing development, is a unique feature, and it offers greater convenience for families with young children, says Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at Realion (OrangeTee &ETC) Group.

“Tampines Nova is situated right at the heart of Tampines Central, and such plum sites are rare, given the scarcity of land for new development in the Tampines Central area,” she says.

It’s also worth noting that Tampines Nova attracted 2,452 applications for 122 two-room flexi units, which were mostly from first-timer singles and an application rate of 110.4.

This is considered a high application rate compared to Simei Symphony, which launched in 2025. The application rate for first-timer singles more than doubled from 43.9 to 110.4. “This is expected as Tampines Nova has a shorter waiting time and is classified under the Plus category, which signals a better location, whereas Simei Symphony is classified as Standard, says Sun.

The next BTO sales exercise will take place in June.

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