Why More Singaporeans Are Upgrading To Bigger HDB Flats Instead Of Condos In 2025

For many Singaporeans, the word “upgrade” means moving from an HDB flat to a condo, or perhaps an EC. But as of 2025, there’s a change in the air: we’ve met more readers and homeowners who have deferred their plans, settled for a smaller condo or, more frequently, opted for a bigger flat instead. But is this just another intermediary step, or have condo prices gone beyond reason for some families? We spoke to some homeowners who decided to look at HDB flats for an upgrade instead:

1. Priced out after COVID 

PV is a Permanent Resident who has been in Singapore since 2013, and his wife is a Singapore Citizen. The couple initially owned a 4-room flat in Yishun, and were planning to upgrade when COVID struck. PV explains this was a bout of bad luck, as they had planned to make their move sometime in 2018.

The couple were eyeing Jadescape at the time, but they decided to hold off until their daughter completed her PSLE. After that, however, the couple met another unexpected delay, when PV’s employer shut its doors. PV says:

“The lucky part is I found a new job very fast, just before Covid. The bad part is after Covid, all the prices went up so high. That’s when we changed our target to resale, but all the resale condos near Jadescape were very old.”

This prompted PV to look in other neighbourhoods; but by then he felt priced out of family-sized units. The couple has two children and by his estimation, a unit of around 1,200 sq. ft. would be comfortable. He recalls that: “By around November or December 2021, I was seeing resale listings for around $1.7 million for this size, which was higher than if we had bought Jadescape new!”

PV’s wife then received some advice from her colleague, who persuaded her to consider a bigger flat instead. PV took some time to come around to the idea, as his preference was for a better-appreciating private property; but the couple decided on their current home the moment they viewed it:

“The place was as big as the resale condos we’d seen. With the price difference we saved we wouldn’t even need a reno loan. There’s a 24-hour coffee shop, where we go for supper all the time, and the bus stop outside has a direct bus to my workplace.”

On top of this, the seller surprised the couple by accepting their first offer, even though the seller’s agent had claimed it was on the low side. 

At present PV’s family are comfortable where they are, and he feels it’s now too much of a stretch for him to afford a family-sized condo. He’ll consider upgrading if his income rises substantially in the future, but he can also accept if his 5-room is his final home. 

2. Buying over a “temporary” home 

VV and her husband wanted to upgrade to a condo in 2016, just after their first child was born. Their initial intent was to live in “any eastside” neighbourhood, be it Bedok, Tampines, Pasir Ris, etc. However, they knew they wanted a condo because both their parents didn’t have access to facilities like pools when growing up, and considered them a great luxury. VV also says the family is close:

“We always meet every weekend with our in-laws and we do things together. So condo facilities would be good for us. My brother has two big fur babies (dogs – Ed.) that we love, and we wanted them to stay over with us some time; but HDB has such strict rules about dog breeds.” 

By end-2016, VV’s sister had gone overseas to work, and her 5-room flat was vacant.  As her sister didn’t like strangers in her house, she suggested VV and her family stay in her flat. The couple could then sell their 4-room flat, and take their time finding a suitable condo while staying at her sister’s 5-room.

While this was VV’s intent at first, her family soon found that they enjoyed the 5-room flat: “It was close to many good preschools, my husband has three friends who live within walking distance, and I like having a wet market because we rarely eat out. The best part is it’s on the highest floor and an end-unit, with an unblocked view of Bedok Reservoir.” 

While the dogs can’t stay in the flat, VV says her brother lives close enough that they can conveniently be dropped off for a part of the day, before heading back in the evening. 

This resulted in a decision to simply buy over her sister’s larger flat, rather than purchase a condo. Besides saving a significant sum for her child’s future, VV also feels it’s less stressful as they don’t need to move a second time, and as she and her husband have developed an “evening hanging out routine” with many friends nearby. 

3. From central to fringe region flat

WX used to live with his wife and son in a 3-room flat at Cross Street, a location that he says was a few minutes walk to Chinatown MRT. The flat was “small and old,” though, and the couple lived there only because it belonged to his late father-in-law. 

Two factors got WX thinking about upgrading: the first was a property agent who pointed out the current value of his flat. He was surprised to be quoted amounts like $650,000 (although he says in reality the sale price was quite a bit below that).

The second issue was his father’s early dementia; he was concerned that, in the next few years, his father and mother would have to move in with him for safety.

The couple’s initial intention was to find a condo in the Clementi area, due to the proximity to NUS. For a time, they even considered buying a one-bedder unit there for their son to stay throughout university, and then renting it out after that. But WX says his son quashed the ideas as being unnecessary, so the couple considered upgrading to a three-bedder condo instead. 

This was a decision that they considered for a year, but never quite acted on. Surprisingly, when they did upgrade a year later, the end result was wholly different: WX and his family moved to an executive flat in Bedok. He says that:

“My mum and dad are already familiar with the place. They’ve lived in Bedok since I was born, which is very important to my dad due to his dementia. Our place is about two bus stops from his previous flat, so it’s familiar. Also, my parents have old friends in the area who can help them.

The other reason is that my son might study abroad instead. So what’s the point of Clementi now? And I need to spend less if that happens, so better not pay for a swimming pool now.” 

The final reason, surprisingly, is that WX thinks Singaporeans exaggerate distances too much:

“This is not Australia where far away means several hours or several days. Almost everywhere you want to go is at most 20 to 30 minutes. We act like moving to Bedok or Jurong is like moving to Malaysia.” 

As such, WX doesn’t feel the sting of losing the central Chinatown location, or of having a flat in place of a condo.