Should You Sell Your Condo And Rent Or Buy Again?

Hi Stacked, I currently own a one-bedroom condo unit worth around $1.3 million. But my spouse and I have also purchased another three-bedroom unit at a new launch project for $3.5 million. That condo is expected to be completed in late 2028.

We’ve been asking ourselves what we should do for the next two years while we wait for our new home to be completed. We are considering two options:

Option 1: Sell the current one-bedder, rent a larger home for the next two years, and use the freed-up capital to invest in another new launch project with good appreciation potential.

Option 2: Sell the current one-bedder and buy a resale condo of around $2.5 million to live in, until our new home is completed. We can then decide whether to sell or retain this property after moving 2028.

Overall, we are not as concerned about minimising our housing costs over the next two years, but we hope to find a solution that will likely maximise our overall wealth over a five-year horizon.

Would renting temporarily and redeploying the capital into another new launch project offer a better financial outcome, despite the rental expense? Or would it make more sense to buy a resale property, given that at least part of our housing expenditure could potentially be recovered through capital appreciation?

If the resale route makes more sense, what type of property should we consider that is about $2.5 million? We prefer central or city-fringe locations; but are open to suggestions regarding age, tenure, district and unit type.

Thank You.

(This is part of an ongoing series where we answer reader questions about the property market. If you have one of your own, send it to stories@stackedhomes.com.)

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Hi, and thanks for writing in!

Since your long-term housing needs have been secured with the purchase of the new three-bedder, your question asks how to best use the next two years as that home is being built. We’ll also offer our views on what to do with the capital currently tied up in your one-bedroom unit.

We’ll examine whether it makes more sense to rent for the next two years, or to purchase a resale property that can serve as your temporary home. We’ll do this with an eye toward long-term capital gains.

First, let’s look at what you might get from selling the one-bedder

Year	1-bedroom	2-bedroom	3-bedroom	4-bedroom
2015	$1,537	$1,216	$1,086	$1,361
2016	$1,653	$1,258	$1,134	$1,318
2017	$1,637	$1,321	$1,154	$1,362
2018	$1,588	$1,358	$1,201	$1,411
2019	$1,576	$1,399	$1,227	$1,491
2020	$1,519	$1,338	$1,164	$1,349
2021	$1,547	$1,384	$1,253	$1,429
2022	$1,617	$1,509	$1,375	$1,552
2023	$1,726	$1,664	$1,493	$1,610
2024	$1,790	$1,774	$1,578	$1,665
2025	$1,828	$1,829	$1,674	$1,784
Annualised	1.75%	4.17%	4.42%	2.75%

Based on the data compiled by Stacked, over the past decade, smaller-sized units like one-bedders have generally seen weaker price growth than their larger-sized counterparts.

The table above shows that two- and three-bedders recorded considerably stronger annualised price growth of 4.17% and 4.42%, respectively. This is largely attributed to the fact that smaller units tend to fetch a higher $PSF price.

However, the price difference in relation to the other unit types have changed over the past decade. By 2025, the average price of two-bedroom units ($1,829 psf) had effectively caught up with the average price in the one-bedroom segment ($1,828 psf).

The price of an average three-bedroom unit has also increased, narrowing the price gap considerably to reach an average of $1,674 psf last year. This suggests that larger units have experienced much stronger price growth over the period of review.

Anecdotally, we hear that this stems from shifting buyer demographics in the Singapore private residential market. A growing number of condo buyers in Singapore are upgrading from an HDB flat. This means most of them are families who are unlikely to purchase a one-bedder, which narrows the prospective buyer pool for that unit type.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that each one-bedroom unit will underperform. The prospects of your existing unit will ultimately depend on the individual unit and your entry price. But given that your objective is to maximise long-term wealth creation, the historical performance is not persuasive when it comes to the one-bedroom segment.

This could be a good argument to sell that property, and redeploy the capital into a larger-sized asset.

Should you rent, or buy another property to live in, for the next two years?

Based on what you’ve shared with us, these are the key differences we can pick out between the two options that you’ve presented.

In Option 1, your home and investment would be separate; whereas under Option 2, the resale property would serve as both your home and investment, until your new condominium is completed.

Let’s first compare the costs you could incur under each option, over a two year period.

To simplify this, we’ve made the following assumptions:

• The three-bedder was purchased solely under your spouse’s name, while the next property will be purchased solely under your name. As you would have sold your existing one-bedder by then, no ABSD is assumed to be payable.
• You take up a 75% loan over 25 years at an interest rate of 4%, in line with the MAS medium-term interest rate floor used for TDSR calculations.
• You rent a home for $5,000 per month. For context, the average monthly rent for a two-bedder in the RCR and CCR over the past 12 months was approximately $4,975.
• For the new launch unit, mortgage interest is estimated based on the progressive payment schedule, rather than assuming the full loan is disbursed immediately.
• We assume renovation costs of $50,000 for a new launch and $150,000 for a resale property. Actual costs can vary considerably depending on the condition of the property and the extent of the works required.

	Option 1: New Launch + Rent	Option 2: Resale
Purchase price	$2.5M	$2.5M
25% downpayment	$625,000	$625,000
75% loan	$1,875,000	$1,875,000
BSD	$94,600	$94,600
Legal fees	$3,000	$3,000
Rental cost (assuming $5000/month)	$120,000	–
Estimated mortgage interest	$37,500	$146,561
Estimated property tax	$0	$3,032
Estimated maintenance (assuming $400/month)	$0	$9,600
Estimated renovation cost	$50,000	$150,000
Total estimated cost by 2028	$305,100	$406,793

On the whole, we reckon that renting, while redeploying your capital to purchase another unit in a new launch project, could actually cost considerably less, based on our initial findings.

Although renting for 24 months would cost approximately $120,000, this is largely offset by some of the additional costs associated with a resale property. A huge factor here is financing.

Since a resale property is already completed, the full loan is disbursed upon completion of the purchase, resulting in an estimated $146,561 in mortgage interest over two years. But a new launch project that is under construction benefits from the progressive payment schedule, where the loan is disbursed in stages as construction progresses. Based on our estimates, this could reduce the interest incurred over the same period to around $37,500.

Not to mention that renovation costs is another significant consideration. We have assumed $150,000 for the resale property, compared to $50,000 for the new launch. While the actual amount will depend on the type of unit purchased, it is particularly noteworthy in your situation, since you only intend to occupy the resale property for around two years.

The resale condo would also incur monthly maintenance fees and property tax immediately, adding expenses of around $12,600 over the period. On the other hand, in a new launch project, you would only see these costs when the development is completed and your unit handed over to you.

So altogether, we estimate that Option 1 could cost approximately $305,100 by 2028, compared to around $406,800 for Option 2 – a difference of roughly $101,700. This puts the $120,000 rental expense into a different perspective. While rent is a substantial cost, avoiding it is not necessarily the cheaper option.

That said, this comparison only considers the estimated costs of each strategy. It doesn’t tell us which property would ultimately be the better investment. Since both options involve committing around $2.5 million to another property, this is arguably the more important question: 

What can $2.5 million buy you in the new launch and resale markets?

And which offers stronger potential for long-term wealth creation? Let’s look at the average prices as of 2026:

Type of Sale	1-bedroom	2-bedroom	3-bedroom
New Sale	$1,342,700	$1,917,419	$2,876,623
Sub Sale	$1,212,601	$1,699,385	$2,625,158
Resale	$1,086,587	$1,812,312	$2,795,292

Based on transactions across the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and Core Central Region (CCR) from January 2025 to date, the difference between two- and three-bedders is fairly substantial.

New-sale two-bedders transacted at an average of around $1.92 million, comfortably within your budget. However, the average price rises to approximately $2.88 million for a three-bedder, putting it around $377,000 above your $2.5 million budget.

A similar gap can be seen in the resale market. While resale two-bedders averaged around $1.81 million, three-bedders typically fetched an average of $2.80 million.

This means that if you choose another new launch project, a $2.5 million budget would realistically place you in the two-bedder or two-bedder + study segment, particularly if you want a newer development.

If you are willing to opt for the resale route, or older resale units, you’ll have a much wider range of options. Note that it’s still possible to find three-bedders below $2.5 million within the RCR and CCR, even if this is below the current average price that we’ve cited.

During the two years before your new home is completed, the additional space offered by a resale three-bedder would certainly be useful. But since your primary objective is long-term wealth creation, getting more space for the same money doesn’t necessarily mean getting a better investment.

To determine that, we need to look at how new launch and resale purchases have historically performed.

To get a broader perspective, we compared projects that were completed between 2020 and 2022. This includes all transaction types including new sales, sub sales, and resale deals. 

Year	New launches completed between 2020 and 2022 (includes new sale tnx)	All sub sale and resale projects
2017	$1,637	$1,293
2018	$1,634	$1,323
2019	$1,714	$1,346
2020	$1,649	$1,280
2021	$1,851	$1,354
2022	$2,205	$1,473
2023	$2,075	$1,595
2024	$2,034	$1,681
2025	$2,086	$1,756
Annualised	3.07%	3.91%

In 2017, transactions for projects that would eventually be completed between 2020 and 2022 fetched an average price of $1,637 psf, compared to the average price of $1,293 psf across the wider subsale and resale market. Both segments appreciated over the following eight years, but the lower-priced resale market saw better percentage growth.

By 2025, the resale segment was still a little bit ahead in terms of percentage growth, but this less than a percentage point of difference.  We also see this in terms of the $PSF price gap. Newer projects commanded a premium of around $344 psf in 2017, compared to approximately $330 psf in 2025, which is a rather minimal change over such a long period. 

In general, while new launch projects do see their average selling price increase, their higher starting psf may leave less room for further growth – especially if you were one of the later buyers in the sales process.

But in an older resale development, you may eventually be competing against owners who bought a unit there many years ago at much lower prices. These sellers may have more capability to tolerate a lower offer, while still walking away with a sizeable gain.

This is therefore a trade-off: new launches have less room for price growth due to their higher starting prices, but can offer a more level playing field when they hit the resale market. On the other hand, resale condos may offer more room for future price appreciation, but you have less protection against owners with significantly lower entry prices.

Neither guarantees a better outcome and the assessment will have to come down to which specific projects you shortlist. But the takeaway is that even if you re-invest in a newer project, you can’t assume it will automatically perform better just because of that newness.

What happens when your new home is ready in 2028?

Another important consideration is what you’ll do with the property after you’ve purchased it, since your new three-bedroom unit is set to be completed in 2028.

If you intend to sell the investment property at that point, the short holding period means it would need to appreciate by a fairly exceptional amount in order to recover the costs incurred during those two years.

Under Option 1, we estimate that purchasing a $2.5 million new launch unit while renting for two years could incur approximately $305,100 in additional costs. This means the new launch would need to appreciate to about $2.81 million by 2028, for the overall strategy to break even. This is before accounting for selling costs and any applicable taxes, like Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD).

Under Option 2, the estimated costs associated with purchasing and living in a $2.5 million resale property amount to approximately $406,793. This would put the corresponding break-even price at around $2.91 million, or approximately 16.3% above the original purchase price.

However, the difference between the two options is more important than the absolute figures. Based on our assumptions, the resale property would need to generate approximately $101,700 more in capital appreciation, versus the new launch over the same period. This creates a significantly higher hurdle for the resale option, over the short two-year period. 

That said, we’d consider that selling the second property in 2028 is not your only option. If you’re prepared to retain the property after moving into your new home, a longer holding period could yield better results. The property could also be rented out, allowing rental income to offset some of the ongoing costs.

So, should you rent and buy a new launch, or just buy a resale property? 

There isn’t a clear-cut winner between the two options. Based on our estimates, renting while purchasing another new launch could cost less over the next two years.

The progressive payment scheme also briefly lowers the amount you pay while the property is under construction, and you would also avoid the immediate maintenance, property tax and higher renovation costs.

There is also some protection from buying into a development where most owners have entered at broadly similar prices. This helps support prices when the project eventually enters the resale market.

However, new launch projects typically start at higher selling prices. As our historical comparison showed, this can sometimes limit their rate of price appreciation. With a $2.5 million budget, you may also have to accept a smaller unit depending on the development you choose.

A resale property presents almost the opposite proposition. The costs of buying and holding it over just two years are higher, particularly with financing and renovation costs. However, the lower starting price may provide more room for appreciation, while the same budget could potentially give you access to a larger unit.

The intended holding period therefore matters.

If you purchase a resale property, retaining it beyond 2028 would give it more time to appreciate. This is, of course, dependent on the entry price at which you secure it. 

Given that your priority is long-term wealth creation, we would therefore focus less on whether the property is new or resale, and more on whether you’re getting the right entry price. 

Fundamentals such as entry price relative to surrounding developments, upcoming supply, layout, and potential competition will ultimately weigh more. We would recommend speaking with a property consultant about your exact shortlist, before deciding which route to take.

Whichever route you choose, we would avoid buying any property on the assumption that you must sell it in 2028. If there is a common thread through all this, it’s that you’ll likely do better if you can extend your holding period.

Frequently asked questions

What are the potential cost differences between renting and buying a resale condo for two years in Singapore?

Renting for two years and redeploying capital into a new launch project could cost approximately $305,100, while buying a resale condo might cost around $406,793, making renting potentially less expensive over that period.

How does the long-term appreciation potential compare between new launch and resale condos in Singapore?

Historically, resale condos have shown slightly better percentage growth than new launch projects, and older resale developments may offer more room for future price appreciation due to lower entry prices.

What factors should be considered when choosing between a new launch and resale condo as a short-term investment?

Consider the initial purchase price, potential for capital appreciation, the price gap between new and resale units, and how each type has performed historically in terms of price growth.

What is the estimated price appreciation needed for a new launch property purchased at $2.5 million to break even after two years?

The property would need to appreciate to about $2.81 million by 2028 to recover the additional costs incurred during the two-year period.

What are the advantages of buying a resale condo instead of renting temporarily while waiting for a new home to be completed?

Buying a resale condo allows you to potentially benefit from capital appreciation, and it provides a property to live in or rent out, which could generate rental income.