The Usual Place Podcast
Why are buyers willing to pay $900,000 for 3-room resale HDB flats?
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Imagine paying close to a million dollars... for a three-room Housing Board flat.
Some people did, and in the first 11 months of 2025, at least four three-room resale Housing Board flats were sold for between $900,000 and $935,000.
To be clear, these prices are not representative of the norm.
In that same period, the majority of three-room resale flats were sold for an average price of $470,000.
What’s raising eyebrows is the rising number of pricier three-room resale flats.
In 2024, just one such transaction took place when a three-room resale flat in Alkaff Lakeview was sold for $900,000 in the last month of the year.
Furthermore, the number of three-room flats resold for between $800,000 and $900,000 more than doubled from 41 in 2024 to 95 in 2025.
What’s driving these eye-watering prices for smaller units, and how does this affect buyers who see three-room units as the most accessible way to own a first home?
In this episode of The Usual Place podcast, I speak with Mr Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at property portal Mogul.sg, and Mr Patrick Chee, property agent and founder of real estate portal Homeseller SG.
Highlights (click/tap above):
2:36 Million-dollar 3-room HDB flat to happen “in the next ‘bull run”: Patrick Chee
7:00 Who buys pricey 3-room HDB flats?
9:21 Majority of 3-room HDB flat are still transacted in the range of $500,000
16:01 Property prices outlook
22:23 Previous property bubbles
31:19 Does sentiment play a role in flat prices
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Filmed by: Studio+65
Edited by: Teo Tong Kai, Eden Soh and Chen Junyi
Executive producers: Danson Cheong, Elizabeth Khor & Ernest Luis
Editorial producer: Lynda Hong
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