HDB resale prices fell by 0.1%, private housing prices rose 0.9%, in 1st quarter 2026

Housing Development Board (HDB) resale flat prices fell 0.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2026 from the fourth quarter of 2025.

This is aligned with the flash estimates released by HDB on Apr. 1, which showed the first decline of resale prices in nearly seven years since the second quarter of 2019.

Whereas on the private housing market, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) noted an overall 0.9 per cent quarterly increase, which is similar to the average quarterly increase of 0.8 per cent in 2025.

URA said the overall private residential rental index rose slightly by 0.3 per cent in the quarter.

Both HDB and URA released their real estate statistics in press releases on Apr. 24.

HDB resale volume rose 19.6%

In the press release, HDB said this comes on the back of five consecutive quarters of slower or no price growth.

HDB added that resale volume rose by 19.6 per cent from 5,256 transactions in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 6,285 transactions in the first quarter of 2026.

However, compared with the same first quarter period a year ago, resale transactions were 4.6 per cent lower in 2026.

HDB rental market

According to HDB's press release, the number of approved applications to rent out HDB flats fell slightly by 0.2 per cent from 9,557 applications in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 9,535 applications in the first quarter of 2026.

Compared with the same time period in 2025, at 9,662 approved applications, the number of approved applications in the first quarter of 2026 was 1.3 per cent lower.

HDB said that as of the end of the first quarter of 2026, 58,698 HDB flats were rented out, a decrease of 0.1 per cent from the 58,775 flats rented out in the previous quarter.

HDB will also offer 6,900 flats in Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, Bukit Merah, Sembawang and Woodlands in an upcoming Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise in June 2026, with more details to be shared in the sales exercise.

Private residential property prices

In the URA press release, prices of private residential properties increased by 0.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, compared with the 0.6 per cent increase in the previous quarter.

Landed property prices decreased by 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, compared with the 3.4 per cent increase in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, prices of non-landed properties increased by 1.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, compared with the 0.2 per cent decrease in the previous quarter.

Private residential property rental market

URA said rentals of private residential properties increased marginally by 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, compared with the 0.5 per cent decrease in the previous quarter.

Rentals of non-landed properties increased by 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, compared with the 0.1 per cent decrease in the previous quarter.

Rentals of landed properties increased by 0.1% in the first quarter of 2026, compared with the 3.0 per cent decrease in the previous quarter.

55,800 private residential units to be completed in next few years

In the press release, URA said that excluding executive condominiums, developers launched 1,844 uncompleted private residential units for sale in the first quarter of 2026, compared with the 2,632 units in the previous quarter.

URA added that as of the end of the first quarter of 2026, there were 42,561 units (including ECs) with planning approval, of which 17,032 units remained unsold.

URA said approximately 30,300 units could be made available for sale later this year or next year, when including 13,265 unsold units (including ECs) that have not been granted planning approval yet.

The 55,800 figure comprises "about 27,300 units (including ECs) expected to be completed by 2028 and about 28,500 units to be completed from 2029 onwards", said URA.

Top photo from Shermin Ng/Unsplash & Dantist Soh/Unsplash