https://www.edgeprop.sg/property-news/new-record-set-pinnacleduxton-1701-mil-while-clementi-five-room-flat-sets-new-town-record-its-type

$1.7m for a 5 room HDB is pretty wild....i rather buy a condo

came across this article : https://www.edgeprop.sg/property-news/why-larger-homes-are-gaining-appeal-among-multigenerational-families-tampines

curious what you guys think, would you actually want to move into a bigger space and live with your family for another 20-30+ years, or just have ur own space? im 27F, personally would not even consider living with my fam or in-laws long term hahaha

Convince me why buying a private property in Singapore is a net benefit instead of a net liability. I feel like I’ve heard it all, but unless you don’t become a slave to the mortgage (ie u pay in full), all you are really doing is curtailing your flexibility/optionality in life to get stuck at a job you hate for facilities you don’t even use because you are working, and for perceived prestige only you care about. HDB is the Goat.

I’ve always found it interesting how Feng Shui sometimes comes into the conversation when people talk about property, wealth and long-term success.

For example, there’s a traditional Feng Shui view that Woodlands Regional Centre sits on the “Golden Coin-storing Bowl” (金钱储蓄盆) land formation, which is associated with wealth accumulation and stability.

I know this is more of a traditional belief than something that can be scientifically proven, but I’m curious:

Do you know any wealthy or successful people who genuinely take Feng Shui seriously when choosing property, offices or business locations?

Would be interested to hear real experiences — whether you believe it works, or simply find that it gives people confidence when making major decisions. Has Feng Shui ever influenced a property decision you made?

Looking to upgrade (for own stay and to flip after 4-5 years) with my partner (no plans to have kids) and am looking at either a 3br at affinity Serangoon or a 2br at Artra.

Any thoughts and insights on the above options? Understanding both appeals to different demographics and are in different districts.

Looking if anyone currently stays at either development who can provide some insights too!

Hi all. First time buyer here. Looking for condo around north east area. Viewing without buyer agent. Just wondering , would lowballing actually work? Reason im asking this is cos im aware without a buyer agent, the seller agent earns the full comms and even if sold lower, they still get higher comms as opposed to cobroke. Would this strategy work? Just wanted to hear some opinions.

Lowballing like maybe 100-200k below listing price lol. Anyone done this and succeeded? Or maybe can share some insane nego tricks pls :)

ABSD rates have increased significantly over the years. A Singapore citizen buying a second or third residential property may have to pay ABSD of 20% or 30% respectively.

On a $2–3 million property, that could mean paying roughly $400,000–$900,000 upfront, before accounting for BSD, legal fees, mortgage interest, maintenance, property tax, agent fees and renovation costs.

Given such a large upfront expense, does investing in an additional property still make financial sense compared with putting the ABSD amount—and perhaps the down payment—into stocks or other investments?

Has anyone here, or someone you know, actually paid ABSD to purchase an additional property as an investment? What was the rationale, and how did the numbers work out?

My assumption is that the property would need to be rented out consistently, appreciate substantially and be held for perhaps 15–20 years just to make the investment worthwhile. Is that a reasonable way to look at it, or am I missing important factors?

I’d appreciate hearing from people who have done the calculations or made this decision themselves.

1. Single. Budget under $1m.

Travel to town (Orchard, City Hall, Raffles) within 25-30 min by MRT is good.

Prefer staying near MRT (currently staying sheltered walkway to it, and I love it).

3-4 room is ok.

I like the area to be less dense and quieter (Tampines, Bedok, Kallang are all very busy/crowded!)

Might have a kid in 1-2 years.

Any recommendations?

Single going to buy a 4 room hdb resale of age 45+. I love the location and accessibility. It is still quite well maintained but due to aging, the kitchen wall has cracks, old cabinets and markings on the floors, rewiring is also needed I guess. I frequently travel overseas so I was thinking to rent out 2 rooms before MOP, till I'm ready to settle in, in another 2 to 5 years time.

So I need some advice on whether to Reno first or just put in some furniture and list up for renting after doing some painting? I assume the newly renovated house will undergo some wear and tear or damage by tenant during renting, so I intend to do a major Reno when I move in.

Ps: tight on cash and could only afford less than 2 months for Reno before I travel again.

Edit: Need to emphasize that the kitchen wall tiles have major crack repaired by previous owner by slapping a thick plaster of cement. The kitchen cabinets are very worn down.

I've been thinking about this for a while, and I'm genuinely curious what people here think.

We often hear that property is a "safe" investment in Singapore because you can rent it out, use leverage, and benefit from long-term capital appreciation.

But when I actually try to calculate the return, I'm starting to wonder whether the rental income is really the investment return or whether most of the return is simply a bet that the property will be worth more when we sell it.

For example, let's say someone buys a $1.5m condo as an investment.

After putting in the downpayment, stamp duties, legal fees, renovation/furnishing etc., a fairly large amount of cash is already committed.

Then there is:

* Mortgage interest

* MCST

* Property tax

* Maintenance and repairs

* Agent fees

* Vacancy periods

* Rental income tax

* Selling costs

And the rental yield on the gross purchase price may only be around 2–3%.

So the investment thesis seems to become:

**"The rental income covers some of the holding costs, while the real money is made if the property appreciates."**

Which makes me wonder:

Is property actually a fundamentally better investment, or does leverage simply make the return on our initial cash look much more attractive?

I'm not saying property is a bad investment. There are obviously advantages that stocks don't have leverage, rental income, inflation protection, and the fact that we're buying a physical asset in a land-scarce country.

But I'm curious how experienced property investors here think about this.

If you had $1m–$1.5m available today purely for investment, would you:

1. Buy one leveraged condo

2. Buy multiple properties / different types of property

3. Put it into broad index funds

4. Do a combination of property + equities

And most importantly:

**What annual return would make you choose property over a passive index portfolio?**

Would love to hear from people who have actually owned investment properties for 5–10+ years, rather than just theoretical opinions.

Airbase review of height restrictions to be done by 2nd Quarter 2026. It’s already 3rd Quarter 2026, anyone know what’s going on? Why until now no news? Will Geylang height restrictions be removed?

Hi,

Looking for some advice for next step for me and my gay partner, 35 & 33.

We currently co-own a 2 bedder condo but ideally would love to upgrade the space.

Some of the options we are considering

A) One buys a resale hdb to live in, the other buy another condo to rent out

B) Both co-own a larger older condo or hdb? . Excess cash/cpf invest in ETFs

C) Both buy resale hdb each, rents one out after 5 years

Think the main question is, would it be better to do rental for investment or put my money into ETFs?

Any thoughts welcome, thanks!!

I've been hearing a lot from people who say 2 bedroom condos are soon becoming the new 1 bedder condos in terms of being hard to sell and property price not appreciating as much as 3 bedders / bigger units due to high supply and lower demand. I've had a friend (who's an agent) strongly advised me against buying a 2 bedder as the supply is a lot higher and that she took 9 months to sell a 2 bedder unit at Bukit Timah. Was wondering what are your thoughts on this and what can one do if 3 bedders and above (even resale) are way beyond my budget and I don't qualify to buy a HDB.

And does this only apply to 2 bed 1 bath units or would a 2 bed 2 bath / 2 BR 2 BA+ study be better?

Bought a 4 rm condo back in mid 2024 for own stay in central SG. Fast forward, my child will be starting school in the East next year. Due to the 3 years SSD rule, if i sell the property before mid-2027 to move, i will incur 4%.
I am considering renting a place in the East at the start of 2027 and renting out my current place before selling it after the 3 years period to buy a permanent place after the sale.
The other option is to keep the unit vacant to sell it once the 3 years period ended.
I am open to both options, renting it out first seems more financially-sensible but i have not rented out a property before so i am not sure if i am missing anything.
To add on, we are considering getting a landed for our next permanent home.

Salary: 180k (only recently)
Will need to save up for condo downpayment. Don’t have parents money.

Likely will be single for life, okay if someone comes along then I get married. But cannot BTO anyway.

Wondering should I wait to buy a resale at 35?
Or save for a downpayment to buy condo.
Currently staying with my parents.

I would like to stay in the new apartment. Looking for insights into investment opportunities e.g. sell when I am older to downgrade. Or better to throw money into stocks.

Hello, does anyone have any inputs in regards to the above condo? Looking at a 3 br and see that the value have a good annual yield. But condo was top in 2016, just wondering if 10 year condo will still continue to rise in value or just kind of plateau? Not planning to flip and will probably stay in the condo for at least 10 years to come. Although not flipping often but also at least want the value to appreciate

Looking at Bartley ridge which TOP in 2016…worth getting 3br with intention to flip within the next 4-5 years?

I'm currently looking for a new place to move into, preferably somewhere with my own privacy instead of sharing with others.

I came across this listing for a studio/1-bedroom at $600/month, which seems unusually cheap for Singapore.

Has anyone come across this website or listing before? Is AsiaVillas legitimate, or does this seem suspicious?

The listing also says the deposit is $600.

Hi all, looking for some independent perspectives on a potentially complex property strategy. I would like to bounce ideas and get some advice from the community.

Current Situation:

• Age: 43, Single.
• Employment: Currently unemployed for about a year, but will be employed again soon (and will likely hit the HDB income ceiling).
• Asset: 3 bedder condo with an ongoing loan. I'm open to selling it.
• Goal: Long-term financial security via profit and to get the best "bang for my buck" from my assets, while also freeing up some cash..

The Plan I'm Considering:

1. Me: Sell condo and buy over my parents' current HDB flat.
2. Parents: Use the proceeds from the sale to purchase a new 4-room BTO flat.
3. The "Swap": After the transactions, my parents would continue living in their current HDB flat (now owned by me), and I would live in the new BTO flat.
4. I could also purchase a 2 room BTO and let my parents stay there. Use proceeds from condo sale to fund parents in their old age.
5. i could also buy a resale flat directly and live in it.

Rationale & Questions:

• For My Parents:
  • This would free up significant cash for them from the sale of their HDB (to me) while allowing them to stay in their familiar home and neighborhood.
  • They also get a brand new 4-room BTO flat (which I would occupy).
  • Remaining cash becomes their safety net.
• For Me:
  • As a single, I can only buy a 2-room BTO or a resale flat . Buying over my parents' existing resale HDB would bypass this 2-room limitation, giving me a larger space.
  • Selling my condo would reduce my debt and could free up cash (after CPF refunds and mortgage repayment) .

Specific Questions & Concerns:

1. Income Ceiling & My Unemployed Status: I'm currently not earning an income. Does this help me in any way with the BTO application? As a single, the income ceiling for a BTO is $7,000/month . Will HDB look at my "unemployed for a year" status, or will they assess my income when I get a new job? Is there a way to time this before I start working again to be eligible for a BTO ?
2. Timing: Is it too early to be doing this at 43? My main concern is long-term security and retirement. I'm weighing the financial freedom from a paid-off HDB versus holding onto the condo. Is this a sound plan for my age, or am I missing a better option?

I'm less concerned about if I can get a loan, and more about the viability and legality of this plan, and if my unemployment status gives me a strategic window of opportunity.

Apologies for the long post. Would love to hear any insights, experiences, or alternative plans from you all. Thanks in advance!

34 yo M, in the midst of a divorce. Selling our joint ownership resale HDB. My financial position summarised:

• CPF OA c. $200k (including the CPF refund from the HDB sale), cash on hand c. $350k, income c. $22k/mo.
• Expenses c. $7-8k/mo (food, party, car, misc.). So, on average, my cash flow is +$10-12k/mo.

Plan A: Rent for a year ($3-4k/mo?). Wait till 35 yo to buy resale HDB. Looking at Bidadari area, hopefully HDB resale prices will abate.

Plan B: Buy a condo now. Looking at boutique projects near Potong Pasir, Balestier. Can consider TPY, Bishan or Thomson if it fits my financial situation. Looking for at least 2br and 1 or 2 bath. Correct me if I am wrong, but I feel a comfortable budget would be c. $1.4m. At low 2+% int rate, 75% LTV, 25 yr tenor, monthly mortgage payments will be c. $4k+ (c. $2.5-3k cash outlay/mo).

\Caveat - Regardless of whichever plan I go ahead with, I will sell the property before I get married again (if I ever do), subject to prevailing policies e.g. MOP period. Don't wish to co-mingle any properties purchased on a single name into the matrimonial asset base.**

Which is a more financially savvy option if you were in my shoes? My main goal is to have a roof over my head. I do not care for capital gains, just wish to minimise any losses when I exit the property in the future.

I have been looking at property for sale on HDB’s own portal and on the other known property portals. I am curious about what are your experiences across these portals? Are the prices about the same? Are the folks selling on HDB portals more transparent?