HDB resale deals jump 19.5% as prices edge down for third quarter

HDB resale activity picked up sharply in the third quarter of 2026: 7,645 transactions were registered, up from 6,396 in the previous quarter. Yet prices barely moved in the opposite direction, with HDB’s overall resale price index slipping 0.1%, according to its final figures released on 23 October.

That is 1,249 more transactions, calculated from HDB’s quarterly totals, without an accompanying rise in the broad price measure. For households trying to understand whether a busier resale market also means a more expensive one, the quarter offers a useful distinction: activity increased substantially, while overall prices edged down.

More transactions, but only a small price movement

The quarter-on-quarter increase in registered resale transactions was 19.5%. Activity was also higher than a year earlier: Q3’s 7,645 transactions were 5.9% above the 7,221 recorded in Q3 2025. So the increase was not simply a comparison with the immediately preceding quarter; sales were higher on both measures.

The price movement was much smaller. HDB’s Resale Price Index reached 202.5, down 0.1% from Q2. This was its third consecutive quarterly decline, following falls of 0.1% in Q1 and 0.3% in Q2.

Put in everyday terms, roughly 120 transactions were registered in Q3 for every 100 in Q2, calculated from the published totals. The broad price measure, meanwhile, was close to unchanged. The two figures describe different parts of the same market rather than contradicting each other.

The transaction count answers how many resale deals were registered during the quarter. The price index tracks overall price movements using registered transactions across towns, flat types and models. A larger number of transactions does not, by itself, tell us whether prices rose or fell; that is why the separate price measure matters.

For a buyer, the interesting development is therefore not just the slight price dip. It is that considerably more deals went through during a quarter when the market-wide price measure softened rather than accelerated.

What changed for private-property owners in July?

The quarter also included a change affecting households moving from private housing to an HDB resale flat. On 27 July 2026, HDB announced that the 15-month wait-out period would be removed from 28 July, with immediate effect on that date.

The removal applied to private residential property owners and former owners buying a non-subsidised HDB resale flat without an HDB loan. The restriction had been introduced on 30 September 2022 to moderate demand and prioritise first-time buyers.

For a household covered by the old restriction, the change removed a prescribed interval between disposing of private property and buying an eligible resale flat. That is a concrete change to the sequence of a housing move, rather than a change to the flat itself.

Other requirements remained. These buyers still need an HDB Flat Eligibility letter, which establishes their eligibility to buy. They must also dispose of any private residential property in Singapore or overseas within six months of completing their resale-flat purchase.

The distinction matters because “the wait-out period was lifted” is not the same as “all purchase conditions were lifted”. The announcement concerned a defined route into a non-subsidised resale flat, without an HDB loan, while retaining eligibility and property-disposal requirements.

Did removing the wait cause the sales increase?

The timing makes this an obvious question, but HDB’s own assessment is important. It said it had not observed a significant increase in either prices or the number of resale flats purchased by private residential property owners and former owners since the wait-out period was removed.

There is also a timing limit to the comparison. Q3 covers July to September, whereas the change took effect only on 28 July. The quarterly total therefore includes transactions registered before the change, and HDB’s release does not break the 7,645 transactions down by buyer type.

The supported reading is that overall resale activity increased in a quarter that also contained the policy change. The figures do not establish that newly eligible private-property owners drove the increase, and HDB’s observation gives no basis for describing a large return by that group.

HDB linked the removal to several quarters of moderating resale prices and the expectation that more flats would reach their five-year Minimum Occupation Period in coming years. That is the period owners generally need to fulfil before their flats can enter the resale market, making the expected flow of eligible flats relevant to future supply.

That explains the stated policy backdrop. It does not identify why each of the additional households bought or sold during Q3.

What does the small price dip tell a household?

The index is useful for understanding the market’s overall direction, but it is not a valuation for a particular flat. HDB constructs it from registered resale transactions across different towns, flat types and models, with the first quarter of 2009 set to 100.

A 0.1% quarterly decline therefore should not be read as a uniform discount across every town or flat type. Nor does it mean an individual seller’s asking price has fallen by that amount: the index measures registered transactions, not the prices sellers advertise.

For someone planning a move, the quarter’s clearest finding is narrower and more useful: substantially more resale transactions were registered while overall prices edged down for a third quarter.

The unresolved question is how activity develops after more time has passed under the July rules. Later figures may offer a clearer view of purchases by private-property owners and former owners; for now, HDB reports no significant increase from that group, even as the resale market as a whole became busier.