Are 3Gen HDB Flats Still A Good Buy Versus Executive Flats In 2024?

3Gen flats are designed for extended families; they’re bigger, but come with a tough restriction: you’re only going to be able to sell back to other extended families. As we write this, it’s been roughly a decade since 3Gen flats were first introduced. Now’s a good time to ask the question: has the drawback really been a big deal after all? And given the spaciousness, are they a better pick over executive flats? 

The rundown on 3Gen flats

3Gen flats were built for multi-family living, such as children living with their parents. These flats were first introduced in 2013. At the time, a common belief was that these flats were purely for home ownership and not resale gain.

That’s because 3Gen flats can only be sold to other multi-generational homeowners. Prospective buyers must be families with at least one Singapore citizen and two or more generations living together (e.g., married couple living with parents, and parents with at least one child - that’s inclusive of single parents). This is on top of other usual eligibility requirements. 

Note that the parents must be registered as occupiers. Registered occupiers can’t own another residential property, so that means the parent can’t own a condo unit, another flat, etc.

This has led to a lot of warnings about limited resale potential; some realtors will tell you to avoid 3Gen flats if you have any thoughts of upgrading. They’re not entirely wrong, as the added resale restriction means there’s a smaller prospective pool of buyers.

Why not just get an executive flat?

Let’s start with size, where we found something puzzling: our observed transactions (see below) contradict common sources of information. Online searches, as well as realtors, claimed 3Gen flats range between 1,237 to 1,400 sq. ft., whereas most executive flats are between 1,292 sq. ft. to over 1,610 sq. ft. 

This would suggest executive flats are generally bigger, a fact that we did not observe in the transactions below. 

Nonetheless, some details are clear: 

First, executive flats still use floor plans with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, much like regular 5-room flats. A 3Gen flat, on the other hand, will still incorporate an additional master bedroom and bathroom (the added bathroom is an en-suite for the second master bedroom). 

Barring a few DBSS projects, jumbo flats, and maisonettes, 3Gen flats are the only HDB flat type with three bathrooms. 

Availability and efficiency are two other key factors. 

Some realtors pointed out that executive flats are no longer built, and the latest ones you can find date back to 1995 - none were built after that. 3Gen flats are still being built, so you do have a chance of getting one as a BTO flat. This matters to buyers who care about lease decay, and who don’t want to pay the high COV rates common to 2024. 

That said, we observed from the transactions below that most resale 3Gen flats are about the same age as their executive counterparts. That’s not too surprising though, as these are usually bought as long-term homes. 

The older executive flat layouts also tend to be less efficient, with more wasted hallway space. The latest 3Gen BTO flats are more likely to use newer layouts; some are quite “dumbbell” like, with the two master bedrooms on either end of the unit, connected via the living/dining area instead of a hallway. 

So whilst 3Gen flats might be harder to resell, they may be more efficient, and may still be available as BTO flats (if you’re lucky with the ballot). 

How are resale gains compared to Executive HDB flats?

The following shows the gains of 3Gen flats compared to executive flats, between 1992 to 2024. Note that there were just three towns with 3Gen flats:

Year	BISHAN	TAMPINES	YISHUN	Volume
1992	$292,667	$231,667	$213,244	22
1993	$349,083	$287,750	$270,885	50
1994	$462,375	$386,455	$377,889	37
1995	$545,000	$475,000	$469,358	27
1996	$682,167	$601,563	$591,250	46
1997	$696,000	$575,700	$583,895	37
1998	$588,698	$485,714	$499,188	30
1999	$533,667	$436,444	$445,769	28
2000	$535,500	$514,000	$455,714	20
2001	$490,000	$503,167	$437,144	23
2002	$530,000	$411,450	$428,250	7
2003	$533,500	$421,667	$406,286	12
2004	$507,500	$423,000	$407,250	12
2005	$488,000	$445,000	$391,667	5
2006	$493,333	$350,000	$378,125	13
2007	$410,000	$441,375	$387,091	21
2008	$660,000	$490,000	$454,778	15
2009	$620,000	$528,000	$493,571	9
2010	$690,333	$492,000	$605,486	12
2011	$780,000	$640,000	$666,250	10
2012	$877,000	$771,250	$702,667	12
2013		$855,000	$731,978	7
2014			$702,000	3
2015	$805,000			1
2016		$818,000	$691,000	4
2017	$910,000	$830,000	$697,500	4
2018		$849,333	$769,432	15
2019	$915,972	$845,000	$764,347	14
2020	$940,000	$742,500	$752,000	8
2021	$895,200	$764,375	$836,600	18
2022		$820,722	$902,063	12
2023			$996,667	3
2024	$980,000	$1,044,000	$1,075,333	6
ROI (1994 - 24)	2.5%	4.2%	3.9%
ROI (2004 - 24)	3.3%	6.7%	5.9%
ROI (2019 - 24)	1.4%	7.3%	8.9%

Here's how Executive flats performed in these same HDBs:

Year	BISHAN	TAMPINES	YISHUN	Volume
1992	$271,000	$204,961	$191,801	216
1993	$346,455	$304,712	$284,052	515
1994	$439,557	$380,968	$358,813	666
1995	$554,339	$457,922	$440,738	627
1996	$663,256	$602,566	$560,171	737
1997	$658,005	$586,533	$545,118	589
1998	$565,846	$497,293	$455,682	1005
1999	$533,213	$465,710	$418,807	1278
2000	$562,356	$513,080	$430,501	436
2001	$536,403	$481,935	$398,045	634
2002	$522,821	$452,013	$369,654	477
2003	$496,685	$428,957	$364,568	282
2004	$466,845	$402,281	$348,537	273
2005	$434,229	$378,372	$336,892	308
2006	$428,151	$373,657	$328,756	364
2007	$496,876	$405,993	$341,523	404
2008	$592,512	$487,082	$387,122	340
2009	$597,313	$491,496	$423,934	363
2010	$677,747	$540,129	$477,989	461
2011	$746,175	$610,486	$534,698	260
2012	$838,654	$665,815	$600,182	286
2013	$857,856	$698,285	$622,596	195
2014	$860,512	$682,807	$581,600	169
2015	$883,225	$673,990	$600,589	201
2016	$885,676	$672,735	$589,501	212
2017	$905,026	$662,850	$589,592	259
2018	$910,042	$685,669	$581,155	298
2019	$883,344	$677,849	$567,527	254
2020	$891,591	$689,166	$599,154	314
2021	$963,708	$733,143	$669,486	420
2022	$1,046,216	$830,908	$787,355	348
2023	$1,088,284	$870,442	$823,621	226
2024	$1,245,423	$910,516	$859,990	255
ROI (1994 - 24)	3.5%	2.9%	3.0%
ROI (2004 - 24)	5.0%	4.2%	4.6%
ROI (2019 - 24)	7.1%	6.1%	8.7%

Unfortunately, the low transaction volume makes it tough to conclude

3Gen flat transactions are rare. Since 2008, there were usually fewer than 20 transactions across the three estates we monitored. Buyers of 3Gen flats are often told to buy it as a long-term family home (perhaps even for life), so it’s not surprising that the transaction volume is low.

But we do note two interesting things:

First, the 3Gen flats that were transacted were bigger than their executive counterparts. Perhaps it’s a quirk of age: older flats tended to be bigger, so maybe if the transactions involved more recent 3Gen flats, they’d lose out in size to their executive counterparts. 

Regardless, buyers in the market for resale 3Gen/executive flats shouldn’t assume the former are always smaller than the latter. 

Second, taking what we can from limited transactions, the return is not substantially worse than executive flats. In fact, it’s quite often better: Between 2004 to 2024, during which time 3Gen flats saw a notably higher ROI of 5.9 per cent. Between 2019 to 2024, however, there was virtually no difference in gains.

Finally, note that on the resale market, a lot of the 3Gen flats weren’t much newer than their executive counterparts; they both tended to have 62 to 65 years remaining. This age disparity is bound to widen at some point though, simply because construction of executive flats stopped in 1995, while new 3Gen flats are still being built.

The concern for 3Gen flats may have been overblown

Again, it’s tough to draw an absolute conclusion due to the low transaction volume; but the market may have an exaggerated notion of how “bad” 3Gen flats are for resale. They may take a bit longer to sell, or have a more limited pool of buyers; but so far, performance hasn’t been too divergent from resale executive flats. 

While it’s still definitely an own-stay asset (as some might argue all HDB flats ought to be), it’s not going to ruin your chances at upgrading either.