PropNex HDB Survey 2026 Shows Changing Upgrading Preferences

There is a widely held and longstanding narrative among aspiring Singaporean homeowners about climbing the property ladder.

Most buyers start out with a HDB flat, perhaps moving on to an Executive Condominium (EC), and then eventually upgrading to a condominium. Those with the means then go on to purchase a landed house.

But a recent homeowner survey by property agency PropNex suggests our attitudes towards property progression, and this well-worn upgrading narrative, may be getting a little more complicated.

The survey, titled ‘HDB Flat Owners Sentiment Report 2026’ and published on Aug 12, polled more than 1,530 HDB flat owners between February and June this year. One of the key findings was that 55.1% of those surveyed still aspire to eventually own private housing, but when we look deeper into the responses there are some interesting caveats.

Many respondents wanted to eventually own a private property, but were also perfectly content with their HDB flats. Interestingly, those who had stayed in HDB flats for the longest time were also the group which expressed the least interest in upgrading. Another unexpected finding was that prime district condos seemed to be low on their wishlist.

Taken together, the findings suggest that the typical, and expected approach, towards the property ladder has changed quite a bit for some Singaporeans. Here’s what else the survey discovered.

1. HDB flats are increasingly seen viewed as long-term homes, rather than just the first rung of the property ownership ladder

Overall, aspiring private home upgraders still make up the majority of survey respondents, but it’s arguably a slight one with just 55.1% of participants indicating that way. Close to half of the people surveyed don’t intend to “move up” from their existing flat.

Among the respondents who had lived in their HDB flat for less than five years, a solid 40.2% say they have no plans to upgrade. It jumped to 45.0% among the group who had stayed in their flat for 11 to 15 years, 52.3% at 16 to 20 years, and 63.0% at more than 20 years. This suggests that the longer someone has stayed in their flat, the less likely they are to want to upgrade.

PropNex notes that this is due to certain homeowners, particularly the elderly, developing support networks and familiarity with the area.

In addition, agents on the ground have shared anecdotally that upgrading has become much more challenging for older homeowners compared to younger ones. This is because as they age, their maximum loan tenure shrinks and raises higher barriers when it comes to upgrading, especially if they want to minimise the amount of debt they hold in their senior years.

This is reinforced by the generational breakdown, which is also naturally reflective of age. PropNex found that around 65.8% of Millennials surveyed aspire to one day own a private home, compared to just 27.9% of Baby Boomers. The agency attributes this to the fact that most younger households are in relatively stronger positions to start accumulating wealth and are starting new families, while older households may increasingly prioritise rightsizing or retirement. 

Nonetheless, as Singapore becomes a super-aged society, this could have a broader impact on our traditional approach towards the property ownership ladder. As more homeowners grow older, upgrading to private may become much less of a priority and this could affect the overall demand for new private residential units in the future.

2. Aspiring to own a condo unit doesn’t necessarily mean you’re unhappy with your HDB flat

In my view, this is one of the most interesting contradictions in the survey. Despite 55.1% of survey respondents aspiring to own a private home, 73.9% of respondents agreed that their existing HDB flat adequately meets their housing needs.

That’s mostly unchanged from the 74.% response rate for this question that was recorded in PropNex’s 2024 survey.

Housing satisfaction was particularly high among owners of larger flats. More than three-quarters of respondents living in 5-room flats, DBSS flats, and Executive agreed their current flat adequately met their needs.

PropNex notes that the desire to upgrade may be driven more by evolving lifestyle needs, than unhappiness with the current home. However, from our perspective, there’s a good chance that the upgrading interest may stem from financial or status-based reasons.

If we ignore the usual “face-saving” reasons (e.g., my cousin bought a condo so now I need one too), a common sentiment among some readers is a sense of safety. For example, owning a condo makes them feel they have a “backup” as they can rightsize and still have a substantial amount of cash. On the other hand, there may be the feeling that owning a three- or four-room flat at a time of crisis may cause some homeowners to feel more “cornered”.

Whether this is correct is a matter for qualified personal finance experts, but it’s certainly an attitude we come across often in our engagements with some buyers and owners.

In any case, it suggests that the ‘quality gap’ between HDB and private housing may not be as significant as most of us may assume. Having a pool and gym at your doorstep is a nice feature, but apparently not so nice that it makes us long to leave our flats.

3. Convenience may matter more than prestige

Another noteworthy finding was where respondents actually wanted their next home to be.

Among those aspiring private home owners, they indicated that condos in the city-fringe – or Rest of Central Region (RCR) – were the most popular choice, with 18.3% of them leaning in that direction. This was followed by a desire to own a suburban, or Outside Central Region (OCR) condo, which garnered 15.7% interest.

As a result, the desirability for a condo in the city centre, or Core Central Region (CCR), attracted a mere 7.2% of the participants interest. If property aspirations were primarily about prestige, this would be an odd result.

But follow up questions in the survey give us a possible explanation. When respondents were asked to select the three most important attributes of their next home, the number-one answer was accessibility.

A sizeable 77% selected proximity to an MRT station, bus interchange or transport hub as a significant buying factor. This was followed by reasonable pricing at 67% and adequate living space at 41.6%. By comparison, just 23% selected proximity to commercial amenities, while proximity to workplaces and primary schools were each selected by 17.4%, respectively.

As Wong Siew Ying, Head of Research and Content at PropNex Realty, states: “The assumption has long been that an HDB upgrader naturally gravitates towards private homes in the OCR”. However, the latest survey suggests that at least some Singaporeans may now see the RCR as striking a better balance between convenience and affordability.

Price may also explain why the overall desirability for CCR condos fell

About 60% of respondents had a budget of $1.5 million or less when it came to purchasing a private home, while another 21.9% cited a budget that ranged from $1.5 million to $2 million.

In other words, more than four in five respondents were working with a budget of less than $2 million when it came to purchasing a private home. Caveat data from URA and cited by PropNex showed that 52.8% of new and resale non-landed homes sold in the CCR in 2025 transacted below $2.5 million.

Wong suggested there may be a perception gap among some aspiring private home owners, who may wrongly assume that all condos in the prime districts are beyond their budgets.

However, we would contend that just being able to buy something in the CCR is quite different from finding the size, layout and location you actually need!

4. We may also be more attached to our neighbourhoods than we think

When asked where they wanted their next home to be, 40.6% simply answered: near their current home. That was comfortably ahead of every geographic region offered in the survey. The next most popular options were the city fringe at 18.5% and the East at 13.7%.

We have already covered a shifting attitude among buyers towards the private residential market.

In the past, condo buyers sometimes considered the proximity of large HDB clusters to be less exclusive, and hence less desirable. Today it’s the other way around – It’s commonly believed that HDB upgraders tend to look for replacement homes within the same neighbourhood, hence condos near HDB clusters may be based on a stronger exit strategy.

5. The 10-year MOP for Executive Condos (EC) may only now be starting to sink in

When respondents were asked what they would do if they purchased an EC, only 26.7% said they intended to stay there long-term with no intention of renting or selling it. The remaining 73.3% had some form of eventual exit strategy.

Around 22.2% say they would rent the EC after fulfilling the minimum occupation period (MOP), and another 25.7% say they would sell the property after the end of the MOP to upgrade again. Meanwhile, another 25.4% say they would sell the unit once the EC became fully privatised.

It is unsurprising that many buyers still see EC ownership as a rung to climb on the property ladder. However, the government’s recent changes to EC ownership may be starting to bite.

(For sites sold on or after 8 May 2026, the MOP has been doubled to 10 years, while full privatisation has been pushed from 10 to 15 years.)

Among the small group of 84 respondents surveyed after the changes were announced, 40.5% identified the 10-year MOP as the measure most likely to deter them from buying an affected EC. Only 16.7% said they were likely to buy one, compared to 44% who said this was unlikely.

The sample here is very small, so we can’t read too much into the exact percentages yet, but the reaction shows that the government’s moves to disincentive EC flipping are likely to work.

So, has the Singapore property dream actually changed?

PropNex Executive Chairman Ismail Gafoor still describes the HDB flat as a potential “springboard” into private housing, noting that a healthy resale market can give owners the confidence and financial means to upgrade. We can see that more than half still want private housing, particularly among younger respondents.

As PropNex CEO Kelvin Fong puts it: “This survey captures a market in the middle of change”, and he notes that upgrading aspirations remain intact, but affordability concerns are increasingly shaping those decisions.

While upgrading and moving up the property ladder her is still possible, it has become much more challenging, and the market shouldn’t make assumptions about underlying demand for private housing in the coming years, especially as demographic changes alter buyer preferences and needs.