Close to 80% of people live in an HDB flat in Singapore. There has been a steady increase in the price of HDB resale flats in the last two years. In 2021 alone we saw the price index reach up to 12.7% YoY recording the highest annual rate of growth in the last 10 years. The pandemic made prices of public housing reach 18.4% growth. We can attribute the growth of HDB prices to supply chain disruption, pandemic lockdowns, and other factors.
One question that comes to mind amidst the rising price of public housing in Singapore is – Are HDB flats still affordable? In this article, we take a look at some of the locations where HDB flats are the cheapest. We do this by analyzing the HDB flats based on the lowest median transacted prices and based on their types.
Cheapest 3-room Flats
If you’re in the market for a three-room flat in Singapore, you’ll want to know which towns offer the most affordable options.
From studies, the towns with the cheapest 3-bedroom HDB flats in Singapore were Geylang, Toa Payoh, Jurong West, Woodlands, and Bedok.
In terms of the median price of resale, Geylang had the lowest with about $305,000 while the others ranged from $345,000 to $348,000.
Below is a table showing the HDB towns and their rankings with the cheapest median prices.
Fig: Ranking of HDB towns for 3-room HDB flats with the cheapest median prices
Some of the towns mentioned like Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh, and Geylang, are located close to the city area. Despite the proximity to the city area, these estates still offer one of the cheapest HDB 3-room rates in Singapore. One of the reasons for this is the age of these flats. The median lease commencement year for most of these estates was before 1981 and this is also a contributing factor.
Cheapest 4-room Flats
If you’re on the hunt for a four-room flat in Singapore, you’ll want to know which towns offer the most affordable options. From our studies, the HDB town with the lowest price for a 4-room flat was Woodland standing for $435,944. Following closely are Sembawang, Jurong West, Yishun, Jurong East, and Bedok.
Amongst all these towns, Bedok was the only mature HDB estate with a cheap median transacted price. The reason is not far-fetched as Bedok is relatively older than the others.
Fig: Ranking of HDB towns for 4-room HDB flats with the cheapest median prices
Cheapest 5-room Flats
If you’re looking for a five-room flat on a budget, there are several options available to you in different Housing Development Board (HDB) towns across Singapore. From our research, Sembawang stood as the most affordable 5-room flat with $510,000 (13.6% cheaper than the island-wide median price of $590,000).
Other towns that follow closely include Woodlands, Jurong West, Sengkang, Choa Chu Kang, and Bukit Panjang. Amongst the 10 cheapest ranked median HDB flats, Pasir Ris was the only mature one.
Fig: Ranking of HDB towns for 5-room HDB flats with the cheapest median prices
Cheapest Executive Flats
If you’re on the hunt for an executive flat in Singapore, chances are you’re looking for the best bang for your buck. Here’s a list of HDB towns with the cheapest executive flats, based on median resale prices.
Fig: Ranking of HDB towns for Executive HDB flats with the cheapest median prices
From the list, the town with the cheapest HDB executive flat price is Sembawang with a median price of $589,000. This is followed closely by Jurong West, Punggol, Sengkang, and Choa Chu Kang. Amongst these towns, only Pasir Ris has the status of mature.
Conclusion
To sum it up, the towns with the cheapest 3-room flats are Geylang, Toa Payoh, Jurong West, Woodlands, and Bedok. The town with the cheapest 4-room flat is Woodland while Sembawang has the cheapest 5-room flat. Lastly, the town with the cheapest executive flat is Sembawang.
It is important to keep in mind that the affordability of an HDB flat depends on a variety of factors. The prices of HDB flats can differ widely depending on the location, age and size of the flats. typically, the cheaper flats could be found in the non-mature estates located further away from the city center. But you can still find mature estates with good research.