We Own An Old Condo With Around 50 Years Left On Its Lease — Should We Wait For En Bloc Or Move To An HDB?

Hi Stacked,

I am 35 years old and my wife is 30 years old, and we have a one year old child. In 2021, I bought a two-bedroom unit at a new launch condo under my name, with the down payment funded by a loan from my parents.

The plan back then was to sell the unit after the condo was completed, and then purchase a resale HDB flat for my wife and I to start our own family. However, the introduction of the 15-month wait-out period for private property owners disrupted those plans.

I was able to sell the condo unit in 2025, but the profit was modest. Although its price rose from around $2,400 psf to $2,850 psf, the unit’s small size meant the absolute gain was limited, especially after accounting for fees and stamp duties.

We couldn’t afford a larger condo for our growing family, and the wait-out period prevented us from immediately buying an HDB flat. Driven by our desire for a spacious home, and a preference to stay in the East Coast area, we bought a unit at Neptune Court at the end of 2025.

While it meets our immediate needs, we’re concerned about our longer-term options.

With the remaining lease at Neptune Court approaching 50 years and eventually falling below that, we worry that finding a future buyer could become increasingly difficult. The recently announced changes to collective sale rules have given us some hope of an en-bloc sale within the next five to eight years, although we recognise this is far from guaranteed.

Even if Neptune Court is successfully sold in an enbloc sale, we don’t expect a windfall and doubt we would be able to afford another resale condo that meets our needs.

Would it make sense to buy a resale HDB flat after serving any applicable wait-out period, fulfil its MOP, and then apply for a BTO flat? We have never bought a subsidised flat or used any first-timer housing benefits. Or is there a more practical housing strategy we should consider?

(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.)

Hi, and thanks for writing to us!

Firstly, en-bloc sales are tricky and volatile. Since it involves the sale of people’s homes, a successful enbloc sale shouldn’t be assumed – even if it appears to make financial sense on paper. This was true during the height of the last enbloc cycle as it is now. 

Thus, we agree that it is important to plan as if an en-bloc might never happen. But let’s go over your situation one aspect at a time.

Before considering your next move, let’s look at what Neptune Court offers your family today, and whether the declining lease should be a concern.

While lease decay is always a valid concern, Neptune Court does have appealing attributes that few other projects in the East Coast can offer: a spacious home in the East, and at a price point that won’t leave you over-leveraged.

We featured Neptune Court a few years ago, and you can check out our review of the development in this article. The appeal of the 99-year leasehold condo remains, with or without the possibility of a future en-bloc sale.

To put the concerns that you have highlighted in context, let’s look at how Neptune Court has performed in the resale market.

Average $PSF

Average 3-bedroom prices

According to transaction figures compiled by Stacked, resale prices at Neptune Court have been on an upward trajectory, albeit not as fast as the wider market average. This is a fairly common pattern of price growth that we have observed among most older private residential projects.

Between 2015 and the first half of 2026, its average resale price still rose from $727 psf to $1,077 psf, with annualised growth of 3.64%. This is less than one percentage point behind the D15 average for 99-year condos (4.53%), and behind even the Singapore-wide leasehold market.

While the negative impact of lease decay has slowed the overall growth trajectory of Neptune Court, the development has not become somehow unsellable nor are its average prices in decline.

This price resilience is likely borne from the same positive attributes that we highlighted earlier. To put it simply, there are few condos in the East Coast area with units that offer this amount of living space at that price point.

For example, resale data in 2025 indicates that average three-bedder cost at Neptune Court cost around $1.5 million, compared with $2.30 million for the wider D15 leasehold market. That’s a noteworthy price difference of approximately $807,000. And when we consider transactions lodged in the first half of this year, that price gap widened to around $877,000.

This is why we think that Neptune Court continues to be a draw to many buyers, even in the face of the condo’s lease decay. However, this is reflective of the development as a whole.

To be more specific, let’s also examine the performance of three-bedroom units at Neptune Court over the years.

Overall, resale transaction volumes for three-bedroom units at the development seem to have remained healthy, even as the condo has aged. Neptune Court recorded between 23 and 31 transactions annually from 2021 to 2025, with sales activity increasing each year from 2022 onwards.

We suspect that more homeowners appreciated larger units with spacious living areas due to the experience during the Covid-19 pandemic, which contributed to a greater appreciation for larger homes.

Over the 10-year period, there has been no visible decline in sales activity at Neptune Court, and if anything buying interest seemed to increase. While only nine transactions have been recorded in the first half of 2026, the year isn’t over yet and the slower sales activity may be due to the significant number of new launches in the East Coast area.

Overall, the negative impact of lease decay on the capital value of units at Neptune Court will constrain the potential buyer pool as the development ages, since it restricts financing and CPF usage for a growing number of buyers.

But in the case of Neptune Court, this is somewhat balanced out by the attractive unit sizes compared to prevailing resale prices. Moreover, it’s also because the development is eye-catchingly affordable in the context of pricier condos in D15.

How likely is an en-bloc of Neptune Court, and should you bank on it?

Neptune Court faces an unusual ownership complication: residents hold leases on their flats, while the underlying land belongs to the Ministry for Finance. This is because the development, built in 1975, was constructed under a housing scheme for public officers.

As a result of this unusual arrangement, it has kept it outside the usual majority-consent collective sale framework. But there have been proposed amendments to allow collective sale by majority consent but with some safeguards for the separate landowner. If so, this may bypass the difficulty of requiring consent from both Neptune Court unit owners and the government.

The red tape aside, there is one other obstacle to Neptune Court’s potential en-bloc sale. Neptune Court is a sizeable project, which would require a substantial capital commitment by a developer. It would take a confident developer to purchase a land plot of this size, and build something that it’s sure it can complete and sell in five years (even if there may be more flexibility in deadlines). Thus, Neptune Court’s large site is both an opportunity and a challenge.

Another consideration is whether the owners of the development would accept the reserve price. As you’ve already experienced in the current market, the cost of a replacement property is high and some owners may object to the enbloc sale on the grounds that, after the development is sold, the sale proceeds cannot get them a similar sized home or location.

This is ironically where Neptune Court’s strength can work against its en-bloc aspirations: there are very few condos with units of its size and price point in D15, and equivalent replacements are truly tough to find.

So, while recent changes do improve the odds of an en-bloc sale of Neptune Court, we would not be overly optimistic of it happening in five to eight years. We would treat it as a potential upside, rather than the basis of your property plans.

We think that your next move should be to remain viable, even if you sell the unit at Neptune Court through an ordinary resale.

Should you buy a resale HDB and apply for a BTO later?

In short: yes to the first, but we’re less certain regarding the second part.

Moving to a resale HDB flat can be a very sensible next step, rather than potentially overstretching to purchase a condo unit. However, we’d question if that flat needs to be a stepping stone to a BTO flat.

You still have to fulfil the resale flat’s MOP before applying for a BTO, and then successfully ballot for a unit and wait for the completion of the BTO development. (Note: You don’t need to sell the resale flat before applying, so you can stay there while you wait).

There’s also the simple possibility that many future BTO sites aren’t suitable for you.

Depending on your ballot results and the construction period, you could end up living there for close to a decade. So consider this if that amount of time really works in favour of your family’s priorities.

Moving again would also mean another round of transactions, renovations, and moving costs. By then, your family may have settled into the neighbourhood, with school arrangements and daily routines that make another move difficult.

Even if you retain first-timer status, BTO eligibility still depends on your household income (remember the ceiling) and other eligibility requirements when you apply. An unused subsidy does not guarantee that you’ll qualify years later.

Rather than planning two moves from the outset, we would choose a resale flat with a sufficiently long remaining lease, and a location you would be comfortable staying in indefinitely. Even if the BTO plan never materialises, you can be content with where you are.

 A BTO could still be worth considering later for its fresh lease and subsidised price. But treat this as an opportunity that might occur, rather than planning entirely around it happening.

So, what should you do?

As you pointed out, the unit at Neptune Court provides the space and location your family needs, and we do not think there’s a need to rush to move.

Granted, the condo is an older development and no longer sees the degree of price appreciation as a newer project. But its prices have continued to rise, and its unique combination of competitive prices, sizeable units, and appealing location makes for very resilient resale demand.

Overall, there are few other properties in D15 that offer the same potential value as Neptune Court.

The proposed changes to the collective sale framework improve the chances for a collective sale. But that alone doesn’t mean it will happen – en-bloc processes are notoriously volatile, and more so when equivalent replacement properties are hard to find. As such, we would not rely on one happening within five to eight years. Treat it as a bonus if it does, rather than something you could actively plan for.

In the meantime, repaying the mortgage principal reduces your outstanding debt, and can help build equity for your next purchase. This is not guaranteed savings, as falling property values could erode what you recover. Even so, you don’t need an en-bloc windfall because Neptune Court has served a meaningful purpose as a family home.

When you’re ready to move, a resale flat could be the most practical option. You should choose a project that you are comfortable keeping for the long term, rather than assume you must apply for a BTO after the resale flat’s MOP has been cleared.

We reiterate that if an opportunity for a good BTO flat happens to come along later, treat it as a bonus – not as a planned expectation.

A smaller private property could also remain a longer-term option, if your finances allow. For now, staying at Neptune Court while rebuilding your cash and CPF reserves appears reasonable. Review your options periodically, including resale demand and the likely cost of your replacement home.

As your child grows up and the space needs of your family increases, you can decide whether a resale HDB or a smaller private home will work for you.