HDB’s flash estimate for the 3rd quarter puts the Resale Price Index at 202.4, down 0.2% from the quarter before. It is the 3rd quarterly fall in a row.
Volume went the other way. 7,528 HDB resale flats changed hands in the quarter, up 17.7% on the 2nd quarter and 5.2% on a year ago.
More buyers, flat prices. And the extra buyers went mostly to the biggest flats.
Here is the HDB resale price index for the last 5 quarters, straight from HDB.
| Quarter | Index | Change |
| 3Q 2025 | 203.7 | +0.4% |
| 4Q 2025 | 203.6 | 0.0% |
| 1Q 2026 | 203.4 | -0.1% |
| 2Q 2026 | 202.8 | -0.3% |
| 3Q 2026 (flash) | 202.4 | -0.2% |
The index peaked at 203.7 in 3Q 2025. It has slipped 0.6% over the first 9 months of 2026. SRI’s Mohan Sandrasegeran notes that is the weakest start to a year since 2018.
Put that in context. The index rose about 55% between early 2020 and its 2025 peak. A 0.6% slide is a pause, not a reversal. What it does end is the run of quick HDB resale gains that sellers had come to expect from 2021 to 2024.
Split the quarter by flat type, using the resale registrations HDB publishes on data.gov.sg, and the pattern is clear.
| Flat type | 2Q 2026 | 3Q 2026 | Change |
| 3-room | 1,490 | 1,581 | +6% |
| 4-room | 2,703 | 3,270 | +21% |
| 5-room | 1,418 | 1,821 | +28% |
| Executive | 375 | 531 | +42% |
The bigger the flat, the bigger the jump. Executive flat sales rose 42% and 5-room sales 28%, against 6% for 3-rooms. 531 executive flats is the most in a quarter since 2022.
4-rooms still make up the biggest slice of the HDB resale market, at 3,270 of the quarter’s sales. But their 21% rise sits in the middle of the range, and the 3-room market barely moved.
The timing points to one cause. Monthly executive flat sales went from 131 in June to 158 in July, 170 in August and 203 in September. The 15-month wait-out period for private property owners ended on 28 July.
Before 28 July, a private property owner selling up had to wait 15 months before buying an HDB resale flat. Those over 55 could skip the wait, but only for a 4-room or smaller flat.
That is exactly the gap that just filled. Downsizers who wanted a 5-room or executive flat can now buy straight away. The wait-out period explainer covers who the change applies to.
What did not move is price. Average psf by flat type barely changed between the 2 quarters:
| Flat type | 2Q 2026 avg psf | 3Q 2026 avg psf |
| 3-room | $649 | $646 |
| 4-room | $668 | $662 |
| 5-room | $627 | $626 |
| Executive | $597 | $599 |
HDB says it has not seen a significant rise in prices or volume from private owners. The reason is supply.
Sandrasegeran points to 3 sources of it: the growing number of flats reaching MOP, more resale listings, and a larger BTO and Sale of Balance Flats pipeline. Buyers who would have competed for the same few HDB resale flats in 2024 now have more choice, and that keeps any one seller from pushing the price. About 13,484 flats reach their 5-year MOP in 2026, and more sellers are meeting the extra buyers.
The one part of the HDB resale market that did climb was the top end. 597 flats sold for $1 million or more in the quarter, up from 491, and 1,499 so far this year.
Executive flats drove it again. Million-dollar executive flats rose from 93 to 146, by the registration records, a 57% jump in one quarter.
Where they sold in 3Q 2026, by resale registrations:
| Town | $1m+ flats |
| Toa Payoh | 93 |
| Queenstown | 86 |
| Bukit Merah | 56 |
| Kallang/Whampoa | 43 |
| Bedok | 42 |
| Bishan | 33 |
Bedok is the one to notice. It went from 27 to 42 in a quarter, and Huttons counts 11.4% of million-dollar sales in non-mature estates, the highest share yet.
The record also moved twice. A 5-room at Pinnacle@Duxton sold for $1.72 million in September, days after another unit there set $1.70 million.
Selling a 5-room or executive flat this year? Send me a message on WhatsApp and I will pull the last sales in your block.
3 things will shape the HDB resale market into 2027.
A big BTO launch in November. HDB will offer about 7,960 flats in Bedok, Geylang, Sembawang, Tengah, Toa Payoh and Yishun, with Community Care Apartments in Toa Payoh.
Higher BTO income ceilings. Since August the ceiling is $16,000 for families, up from $14,000, and $8,000 for singles. Some buyers who would have gone resale for a bigger flat can now try for a BTO instead. The income ceiling changes explain who gains.
Primary 1 changes from 2027. Phase 2C rises to 60 places, and 12 popular schools will split places between children within and beyond 2km. Huttons expects flats near those schools, in towns like Bukit Timah, Queenstown and Toa Payoh, to benefit. The Phase 2C breakdown lists the 12 schools.
The forecasts disagree. Huttons expects prices to finish 2026 between -1% and +1% and the market to bottom this quarter. ERA expects about 26,000 resale deals and 2% to 5% price growth.
3 practical reads.
Big-flat sellers have the most buyers in years. Private owners are back in the HDB resale market for 5-room and executive flats. If you own one, especially in a mature town, executive flat sales are at their highest since 2022.
Price to the market, not the headline. More buyers have not lifted prices, because more flats are for sale too. A realistic asking price sells. A record-chasing one sits.
The gap to private is widening. URA’s flash estimate has private prices up 1.4% in the quarter and 2.8% this year, while HDB resale is down 0.6%. On a $750,000 flat and a $1.8 million condo, that is about $4,500 lost on the sale side and $50,000 added on the buy side in 9 months.
Downsizers now have a real HDB resale option. If you own private property and want a big flat near family, you no longer wait 15 months. The catch is that you are now competing with every other downsizer for the same 5-room and executive stock, so the best units in mature towns still go quickly.
If you are planning to upgrade, the main trade-off is timing your sale against a private market that has not paused. The HDB upgrading roadmap walks through the order of steps, and the upgraders map shows which towns have the most flats reaching MOP.
Yes, by 0.2% on HDB’s flash estimate, to an index of 202.4. It is the 3rd quarterly decline in a row and brings the fall for 2026 to 0.6%.
7,528 as of 29 September, up 5.2% on the same quarter of 2025.
Not so far. It lifted sales of 5-room and executive flats, but HDB has not seen a significant rise in prices or in purchases by private property owners.
597 in 3Q 2026, up from 491 in the previous quarter, and 1,499 in the first 9 months of the year.
HDB normally publishes the final quarterly figures later in October, a few weeks after the flash estimate.
For 5-room and executive owners, demand is the strongest in years, but prices are flat. Selling works best when the asking price matches recent sales in your block.
Source for the 3Q 2026 HDB resale figures: Housing & Development Board.
A flat index with rising volume is a market that is working, not one that is falling — and for anyone holding a big flat, the buyers are back. If you want to know what your flat would fetch against what your next home costs, message me on WhatsApp.
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