HDB resale prices dip 0.1% in third quarter; private home prices rise 1.4%

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SINGAPORE: Housing and Development Board (HDB) resale flat prices fell 0.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2026, while private home prices rose 1.4 per cent.

The decline marked the third straight quarter of falling HDB resale prices, while private home price growth accelerated from 0.5 per cent in the previous quarter, according to data from HDB and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released on Friday (Oct 23).

HDB resale prices fell even as transaction volume rose 19.5 per cent in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, overall private home transactions fell 16.3 per cent to 5,146 units in Q3, with developers selling 1,183 new private homes, excluding executive condominiums (ECs) - down 44.7 per cent from the previous quarter.

HDB RESALE VOLUME JUMPS

Resale volume in the third quarter rose 19.5 per cent to 7,645 transactions, from 6,396 in the previous quarter.

This was also 5.9 per cent higher than the 7,221 transactions recorded in the third quarter of 2025.

It was the highest quarterly resale transaction volume since the third quarter of 2024, said Singapore Realtors Inc (SRI) head of research and data analytics Mohan Sandrasegeran.

The increase in resale activity suggests that underlying demand for resale HDB flats remains relatively healthy as prices entered a more measured phase of adjustment in 2026, he said.

“This could indicate that buyers are continuing to participate actively in the resale market, particularly where flats are appropriately priced and offer attributes that align with their housing needs and financial considerations,” Mr Sandrasegeran added.

HDB said it has not observed a significant increase in either the prices or number of resale flats bought by private residential property owners and former owners since the 15-month wait-out period was removed in July.

The rule had required private property owners and former owners to wait 15 months after selling their property before they could buy a non-subsidised HDB resale flat.

At the upper end of the market, 596 HDB resale flats were sold for at least S$1 million in the third quarter, a new quarterly record, according to ERA's analysis of public transaction data.

That was up 21.6 per cent from 490 such transactions in the previous quarter.

“Despite the growing number of million-dollar deals, the segment remains niche,” ERA Singapore key executive officer Eugene Lim said, noting that such flats accounted for about 7.8 per cent of all resale transactions in the quarter.

As a growing pipeline of HDB flats reaches their minimum occupation period (MOP), the pool of resale flats available in the market is expected to progressively expand, Mr Sandrasegeran said.

HDB will also continue to roll out a steady supply of new flats, with about 7,960 flats to be launched in the upcoming Build-to-Order (BTO) exercise in November.

Mr Lim said a growing supply of flats reaching their MOP and a strong BTO pipeline should help meet demand even if more private property owners choose to right-size into HDB flats.

The monthly household income ceiling for BTO flats, which was raised from S$14,000 to S$16,000 in August, could also steer eligible buyers towards BTO flats, “further easing upward pressure on resale prices”, he added.

PRIVATE HOME PRICES

The 1.4 per cent increase was the fastest quarterly rise in nearly two years, with the previous high of 2.3 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024, said Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist of Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group.

Landed property prices increased 2.9 per cent, following a 2.5 per cent increase in the previous quarter. Prices of non-landed properties rose 1 per cent, after falling 0.1 per cent in the second quarter.

Prices of non-landed properties in the Outside Central Region rose 2.3 per cent, reversing a 0.1 per cent decline in the previous quarter.

Non-landed property prices in the Core Central Region increased by 0.3 per cent, while prices of non-landed properties in the Rest of Central Region remained unchanged in the third quarter.

ERA Singapore CEO Marcus Chu said gains in landed homes and non-landed properties in the Outside Central Region had supported the overall increase.

“This suggests that demand remained firm for certain segments and locations, even as fewer homes changed hands overall,” he said.

Developers launched 1,140 private residential units, excluding ECs, in the third quarter, down from 1,783 in the previous quarter. They sold 1,183 units, compared with 2,141 previously.

“The moderation in transaction volumes was largely attributable to a quieter new launch calendar rather than a fundamental shift in underlying buyer demand,” Mr Sandrasegeran said.

Meanwhile, there were 3,801 private home resale transactions in the third quarter, accounting for 73.9 per cent of all private residential sales, up from 62 per cent in the previous quarter.

MORE PRIVATE HOUSING SUPPLY AHEAD

A total of 3,559 private residential units, including ECs, were completed in the third quarter, up from 1,212 units completed last quarter. This was the highest quarterly completion recorded since the third quarter of 2024, URA said.

At the end of Q3, 20,300 of the 44,738 private residential and EC units with planning approval remained unsold. Together with 12,508 unsold units that had yet to receive planning approval, about 32,800 units could be made available for sale over the next one to two years, URA said.

Based on the expected completion dates reported by developers, about 57,200 private housing units are expected to be completed in the coming years.

Including ECs, these comprise about 22,300 units expected for completion by 2028 and about 34,900 units expected to be completed from 2029 onwards.

PROPERTY MARKET OUTLOOK

“We expect private residential property prices to increase by approximately 3.0 per cent to 3.5 per cent for the full year 2026,” said Mr Sandrasegeran.

New private home sales are expected to reach about 7,000 to 8,000 units for the full year, excluding ECs, he added.

SRI also expects HDB resale prices to remain broadly stable for the year, with full-year movements ranging between a 1 per cent decline and a 1 per cent increase.

ERA, meanwhile, expects HDB resale activity to remain healthy through the end of the year.

“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, HDB resale transactions could reach around 26,000 units by year-end,” said Mr Lim.

Both HDB and URA said the macroeconomic outlook remained highly uncertain, including for global and domestic interest rates.

They advised households to exercise prudence when buying property and taking out mortgage loans.