Although the 15-month wait-out period for private property owners buying non-subsidised five-room and larger flats ended on July 28 this year, HDB says it did not observe a significant increase in resale prices or the number of flats purchased by this group of buyers.
According to the latest statistics published by HDB, average resale prices in the public housing market fell 0.1% in 3Q2026 from the previous quarter. This means that resale prices in the HDB market have been on the decline since the start of this year.
Despite the moderation in resale prices, transaction volumes continued to climb in 3Q2026, rising sharply by 19.5% q-o-q to reach 7,645 flats sold. This is 5.9% higher than the 7,221 resale transactions closed in 3Q2025.
The current trend of falling prices and rising transaction volumes reflects growing buyer confidence in a cooler resale HDB market, says Eugene Lim, Key Executive Officer at ERA Singapore. “If this trend continues, resale activity could strengthen further as a buyer-friendly environment improves affordability for first-timers and upgraders".
HDB RPI vs Number of Resale Applications
He adds that the pipeline supply of new Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, as well as an incoming wave of flats clearing their minimum occupation period (MOP), should help meet prevailing demand for public housing.
In addition, the raised monthly household income ceiling could also steer demand from eligible buyers towards BTO flats, further easing upward pressure on resale prices, says Lim.
Sales volume of five-room flats back to levels last seen in 2022
Between July and September this year, the performance of the HDB resale market has been shaped by policy shifts, seasonal trends, and the absence of a BTO sales exercise, says Lee Sze Teck, Senior Director of Data Analytics at Huttons Asia.
The removal of the 15-month wait-out period also resulted in a sharp jump in the number of five-room and larger-sized flats sold last quarter, based on transaction data compiled by Huttons. There were 1,867 five-room flats sold in 3Q2026, which is a 26.7% q-o-q increase compared to the previous quarter. Meanwhile, 545 executive/multi-generation flats changed hands, reflecting a quarterly increase of 41.6%.
Table 1: Transaction Volume of HDB Resale Flats in 3Q 2026
| 4Q 2025 | 1Q 2026 | 2Q 2026 | 3Q 2026 | Change | |
| 1-room | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | -80% |
| 2-room | 171 | 192 | 199 | 209 | +5.0% |
| 3-room | 1,328 | 1,504 | 1,543 | 1,645 | +6.6% |
| 4-room | 2,266 | 2,777 | 2,791 | 3,378 | +21.0% |
| 5-room | 1,213 | 1,431 | 1,473 | 1,867 | +26.7% |
| Executive/Multi-Gen | 277 | 378 | 385 | 545 | +41.6% |
| Total | 5,256 | 6,285 | 6,396 | 7,645 | +19.5% |
Total sales of five-room and larger-sized flats accounted for 31.6% of all resale transactions in the HDB market last quarter, up from 29.0% in 2Q2026. This is the largest number of five-room and larger-sized flats sold within a single quarter since 3Q2022, which incidentally was when the 15-month wait-out period was imposed on 30 Sept 2022.
"This means that the sales of these larger-sized flats are almost back to pre-cooling measures days," says Lee.
Close to 600 million-dollar HDB deals in 3Q2026
Although the market-wide price trend indicates that resale prices in the HDB market have been moderating for the past nine months, the number of million-dollar HDB deals reached a new quarterly high of 596 flats.
This is the first time that the number of million-dollar flats sold during a quarter has exceeded 500 units. The total number of million-dollar flats sold from January to September this year is 1,497 units, which is 20.4% more than the 1,243 units sold over the same period last year.
Overall, the number of million-dollar flats sold each quarter has been progressively increasing from 348 deals in 1Q2025 to 480 deals in 3Q2025. So far this year, there were 411 million-dollar deals in 1Q2026 and 490 of these transactions in 2Q2026.
"Despite the moderation in overall HDB resale prices, the continued increase in million-dollar transactions suggests that demand remains relatively resilient for selected resale flats with desirable attributes, particularly those offering larger living spaces, convenient locations, proximity to established amenities and good transport connectivity," says Mohan Sandrasegeran, Head of Research & Data Analytics at SRI.
He also observes that the number of executive flats sold last quarter was one of the strongest increases recorded, with transaction volumes rising from 93 in 2Q2026 to 146 last quarter.
The larger floor area offered by executive-type flats compared with conventional four- and five-room flats, as well as the distinct unit layouts, heightens the appeal and desirability of these public housing units.
"As newer HDB developments tend to offer more standardised flat configurations, buyers seeking larger living spaces may increasingly consider executive flats within established housing estates, particularly where these homes offer convenient access to transport nodes, schools and neighbourhood amenities," says Sandrasegeran.
However, Lim of ERA reiterates that million-dollar flat transactions are still a niche segment of the HDB resale market, and only account for 7.8% of all resale transactions in the recent quarter.
Resale HDB Flat Transactions priced at $1M and above
According to data compiled by ERA, mature estates continued to account for the lion's share of million-dollar flats, with 528 transactions (88.6%) of all such deals in 3Q2026.
On a town level, Toa Payoh led the market with 93 million-dollar flat transactions, followed by Queenstown and Bukit Merah with 86 and 56 deals, respectively.
Younger flats stand the best chance of commanding a million-dollar price tag
Just over half of all million-dollar HDB transactions in 3Q2026 involved resale flats aged 15 years or less, with 299 deals (50.2%) closed during that quarter. It is closely followed by flats aged 26 to 35 years, which accounted for 109 transactions (18.3%); then, those flats aged 36 to 45 years made up 93 deals (15.6%).
Within the million-dollar segment, the number of deals crossing $1.5 million or more has started to gain prominence. Of the 26 flats that were sold for $1.5 million or more last quarter, 18 units (69.2%) were 15 years old or younger.
They exclusively comprised five-room and executive units located in Bishan, Bukit Merah, Clementi, Kallang/Whampoa, Queenstown, Toa Payoh, and the Central Area, according to data compiled by ERA. “Younger flats have been a mainstay of million-dollar deals, as their newer condition and longer remaining leases offer greater appeal," says Lim.
As more million-dollar flats start to approach the $1.5 million threshold, it is raising price expectations among some sellers.
Data from Huttons indicates that the average price of million-dollar flats is now $1.16 million, an increase of 1.1% compared to the average price of $1.147 million in 2Q2026. The proportion of million-dollar flat transactions in non-mature estates reached 11.4% in 3Q2026, the highest ever.
Median resale prices continue to grow across some towns
According to the latest statistics from HDB, the highest median resale prices for three-room flats were recorded in Punggol and Sengkang, which both recorded a price level of $540,000.
For four- and five-room flats, Queenstown and Ang Mo Kio recorded the highest median prices at $1.065 million and $995,500, respectively. The largest quarterly price increases were recorded in Hougang and Pasir Ris, respectively, with prices rising 12.4% from $720,500 to $809,900 and 2.3% from $909,000 to $930,000.
Serangoon recorded the highest median resale price for executive flats at $1.13 million.
Geylang stood out for several reasons. Median prices for three-room flats rose the most in Geylang, up 8.2% q-o-q from $358,000 to $387,500. At the same time, four-room flats in that town also recorded the largest quarterly increase, with median prices up 8.1% q-o-q to $767,500 from $710,000.
Median HDB resale prices by quarter by selected flat type
| Qtr | 2 ROOM | 3 ROOM | 4 ROOM | 5 ROOM | EXECUTIVE* |
| Q3 2025 | $375,000 | $450,000 | $630,000 | $740,000 | $900,888 |
| Q4 2025 | $370,000 | $445,000 | $630,000 | $740,000 | $915,000 |
| Q1 2026 | $372,000 | $445,000 | $628,000 | $745,000 | $900,000 |
| Q2 2026 | $378,000 | $440,000 | $630,000 | $738,000 | $920,000 |
| Q3 2026 | $370,000 | $435,000 | $628,000 | $740,944 | $920,000 |
| QOQ % change | -2.1% | -1.1% | -0.3% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| YOY % change | -1.3% | -3.3% | -0.3% | 0.1% | 2.1% |
But for all the attention on million-dollar flats, the broad HDB resale market has been steady.
Median prices of three-room to executive flats – which made up about 97% of resale transactions last quarter – saw marginal price movements, according to transaction data compiled by PropNex Realty.
Its market research also indicates that the four-room flat segment - the most commonly traded flat type in the market - recorded a median price of $628,000 in 3Q2026, and was little changed compared to the price point of $630,000 a year ago.
PropNex forecasts that around 26,000 to 27,000 resale flats will be sold across the entire year, and that the overall trajectory of HDB resale prices could be flat or ease by around 0.5%.
Ample housing supply will continue to keep price growth stable
Although HDB resale prices have moderately slipped in the first nine months of 2026, there is a chance that there could be a slight price rebound for certain regions or flat models in the upcoming months, says Christine Sun, Chief Researcher & Strategist of Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group.
"Many private homeowners will be cash-rich after selling their homes, and they are likely to buy large resale flats for the space and value. Therefore, we expect demand and prices of larger flats to be boosted, while the number of million-dollar resale flat transactions to grow further," she says.
She adds that any price increase will likely be broad-based and not a spike in prices, and the effect of million-dollar sales on the rest of the public housing market will be contained.
Moreover, ample housing supply will continue to keep prices stable in the long term. The number of MOP flats is forecast to rise from 6,973 units in 2025 to 13,484 units in 2026, and 18,939 units in 2027.
Likewise, Wong Siew Ying, Head of Research and Content at PropNex, observes that resale flats will continue to offer relatively affordable and move-in ready homes for households unwilling or unable to wait several years for a BTO project to be completed.
"In addition, demand for HDB resale flats will also be supported by eligible private-property owners who can now right-size to a resale flat without serving the former 15-month wait-out period, a measure that was withdrawn in July," says Wong.
While she believes that genuine owner-occupier demand is unshaken, affordability constraints as well as BTO alternatives and more flats reaching their five-year MOP could limit the ability of HDB resale flat sellers to push prices higher.
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