More Two-Room Flexi BTO Flats Coming but Singles’ Application Rates Remain High

Two-room flexi flats are the only category of BTO flats that singles are eligible to purchase, and they remain vastly oversubscribed. Competition was fiercest in October 2024, when singles were first able to apply for two-room flexi flats in all locations rather than just units in non-mature estates. The median application rate for singles shot up to 26.3 in that launch.

It has since tapered to around 7 for the past three sales exercises in October 2025, February 2026 and June 2026. Even so, the lowest application rate for singles at the June 2026 launch was 4.1 at an Ang Mo Kio Plus project. At Woodgrove Acres in Woodlands, the rate went as high as 19.3. In contrast, median application rates for first-timer families for three-room and larger flats stood at just 1.4 in June and 0.9 in February.

The price gap between BTO and resale is a major draw. In the June 2026 launch, two-room flexi flats were priced from S$139,000 to S$247,000 before grants. On the resale market, comparable flats averaged around S$360,000 between 2025 and the first half of 2026, according to Eugene Lim, key executive officer of ERA Singapore. BTO flats also come with a fresh lease and typically require less maintenance and renovation, noted Kelvin Fong, chief executive of PropNex.

HDB has been ramping up supply substantially. In 2025, it launched 5,655 two-room flexi flats. In 2026, about 6,433 such flats are set to be rolled out, a 13.8 per cent increase and the highest number since the two-room flexi scheme was launched in 2015. This is also more than double the number launched in 2023.

Some 20,000 two-room flexi flats will be launched from 2026 to 2028, up by 50 per cent from previous years, to meet the growing demand from singles and seniors. HDB has also been placing substantial numbers of two-room flexi units in sought-after locations. In the June sales exercise, 816 units, or 41 per cent, of the 1,976 flats in Berlayar Rise were two-room flexi units, located in the new Berlayar estate off Telok Blangah Road that will form part of the Greater Southern Waterfront.

In the upcoming October launch, nearly half of the planned Bayshore flats in Bedok, about 1,240 out of 2,500 units, will be two-room flexi flats. However, such flats are first allocated to seniors, with singles able to book up to 65 per cent of the remaining units.

More Singaporeans are remaining single, fuelling sustained demand. The five-yearly General Household Survey, published on Jun 30, showed that more Singapore residents in their 30s have stayed single over the past five years. Nearly one in four men (24.4 per cent) aged 35 to 39 was single in 2025, up from 22.6 per cent in 2020. For women in the same age bracket, the proportion rose slightly from 19.3 per cent to 20.3 per cent.

HDB’s Sample Household Survey, published in November 2025, also found that most singles who intend to move out of their current homes would prefer to buy rather than rent or live with other people.

The Government is reviewing the minimum age of 35 at which singles can purchase flats. National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat said in January that any policy move would depend on market conditions, noting that demand will rise if eligibility conditions are loosened and waiting times could grow longer if supply cannot keep up.

Sociologist Chua Beng Huat, emeritus professor at NUS, cautioned: “Given the oversubscription, there seems to be little reason to lower the age eligibility, since it can always be argued that those who are older are not fully provided for and lowering the age ceiling will only increase the demand pressure.” Christine Sun of Realion (OrangeTee and ETC) Group added that application rates will drop naturally once supply meets demand, noting the overall rate was 3.2 in the June exercise.