# Government removes 15-month wait-out period for private property owners to buy HDB resale flats

- **Source:** EdgeProp Singapore
- **Published:** 2026-07-28T03:19:26.000Z
- **Author:** Atiqah Mokhtar
- **Original:** https://www.edgeprop.sg/property-news/government-removes-15-month-wait-out-period-private-property-owners-buy-hdb-resale-flats
- **Topics:** HDB & Public Housing, Private Residential, Government & Policy

## Featured rationale

The change may release pent-up downgrader demand for larger, newer resale flats and facilitate private-home disposals, although expanding supply could contain broader price growth.

## AI summary

From July 28, private homeowners selling their property can immediately buy a non-subsidised HDB resale flat without an HDB loan, ending the 15-month wait.

## Original article

Private housing owners who sell their property will no longer have to wait 15 months before buying an HDB resale flat. On July 28, HDB announced that private residential property owners who purchase a non-subsidised HDB resale flat without an HDB housing loan will no longer be subject to the 15-month wait-out period, with immediate effect.

The move follows several quarters of price moderation in the HDB resale market, said the public housing agency. The HDB Resale Price Index saw two consecutive quarters of decline this year, falling 0.1% q-o-q in 1Q2026 and 0.3% q-o-q in 2Q2026. The decline comes on top of five consecutive quarters of slower or no price growth from 4Q2024 to 4Q2025.

HDB added that the stabilisation in the resale market is further supported by a larger number of new flats that will be completing their minimum occupation period (MOP) and entering the resale market over the next few years. 8,000 Build-to-Order flats reached their MOP in 2025, with HDB estimating the figure to increase to 13,500 in 2026, 15,000 in 2027 and 19,500 in 2028.

Read also: HDB resale prices fall for second consecutive quarter, down 0.3% in 2Q2026

The wait-out period was first introduced in September 2022 as part of a package of property cooling measures for the HDB resale market that included a cut in the HDB loan-to-value (LTV) limit to 80% and an interest rate floor of 3% for HDB loans. The LTV limit was further reduced to 75% in August 2024.

Seniors aged 55 and above were exempted from the 15-month wait-out period if they moved from their private property to a four-room or smaller non-subsidised flat.

In May 2025, Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat said that the government may remove the wait-out period if resale prices in the HDB market continued to moderate.

Analysts largely welcomed the removal of the wait-out period. Eugene Lim, key executive officer at ERA Singapore, sees it as a "measured response to a more balanced HDB resale market". "It gives private homeowners greater flexibility to right-size, while the larger pipeline of flats reaching MOP should help the market absorb the additional demand and preserve overall market stability," he adds.

Kelvin Fong, CEO of PropNex, said the government’s timing was “well-judged”, given that the HDB resale market has “visibly found more stable footing”. By eliminating the wait-out period, buyers will also be able to avoid “the awkward gap between selling and buying” that the rule had imposed on former private home owners seeking to downgrade to a resale flat, Fong adds.

More demand for larger resale flats

Since the introduction of the 15-month wait-out period, purchases of five-room or larger resale flats by private property owners have largely tempered, points out Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia. Data compiled by the agency show that the transaction volumes for five-room and executive/multi-gen HDB resale flats eased from 6,951 and 1,946 in 2022 to 5,966 and 1,539 units in 2025, respectively.

Read also: What's moving the market: Singapore's biggest property deals and hottest searches (July 24)

With the wait-out period now abolished, Lee expects more private property owners to enter the resale market for five-room and larger flats. However, while this may boost resale market activity, a spike in HDB resale prices is "unlikely", given that first-time buyers have more options to choose from, ranging from BTO flats and executive condos to private residential homes, he notes.

Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group, believes more million-dollar resale flat transactions are on the horizon, driven by private home buyers downgrading. Still, any price spikes will likely be contained within this specific segment, given that premium flat transactions account for a minority of total resale flat deals.

ERA’s Lim expects the change to unlock some pent-up demand for resale flats, particularly for larger, newer and well-located homes. Additionally, the greater flexibility may facilitate activity in the private resale housing market, as owners dispose of their existing properties.

Meanwhile, Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of research and data analytics at SRI, expects resale flat prices to remain stable, notwithstanding any additional transaction activity from the revised policy. He projects prices to grow between 0.5% and 2% for the full year.

## Chinese translation

> Translation model: grok_cli

### 政府取消私宅业主购买组屋转售单位的15个月等待期

政府表示，取消等待期是在组屋转售市场价格连续数个季度放缓之后作出的。

出售私宅的私宅业主，今后将无需再等待15个月才能购买组屋转售单位。7月28日，建屋发展局（HDB）宣布，私宅业主若购买非津贴组屋转售单位且不使用建屋局房屋贷款，将即日起不再受15个月等待期限制。

公共住屋机构表示，此举是在组屋转售市场价格连续数个季度放缓之后作出的。建屋局转售价格指数今年已连续两个季度下跌，2026年第一季度环比下跌0.1%，2026年第二季度环比下跌0.3%。此前，自2024年第四季度至2025年第四季度，价格已连续五个季度增速放缓或零增长。

建屋局补充称，转售市场趋稳还得到未来数年将有更多新组屋完成最低居住年限（MOP）并进入转售市场的支撑。2025年有8,000个预购组屋（BTO）单位达到最低居住年限，建屋局估计该数字将升至2026年13,500个、2027年15,000个及2028年19,500个。

延伸阅读：组屋转售价格连续第二季下跌，2026年第二季度环比降0.3%

等待期于2022年9月首次推出，是针对组屋转售市场的一揽子降温措施之一，当时还包括将建屋局贷款与估值比率（LTV）上限下调至80%，以及为建屋局贷款设定3%的利率下限。LTV上限于2024年8月进一步降至75%。

55岁及以上年长者若从私宅迁入四房式或更小的非津贴组屋，可获豁免15个月等待期。

2025年5月，国家发展部长徐芳达曾表示，若组屋转售市场价格继续放缓，政府或会取消等待期。

分析师普遍欢迎取消等待期。ERA Singapore关键执行官林恩权（Eugene Lim）视之为“对更趋平衡的组屋转售市场的审慎回应”。“这让私宅业主在调整居住规模方面拥有更大灵活性，而即将达到最低居住年限的组屋供应扩大，应有助于市场消化额外需求并维持整体稳定。”他补充道。

PropNex首席执行官冯瑞龙（Kelvin Fong）表示，政府的时机“判断得当”，因为组屋转售市场“已明显找到更稳固的立足点”。他补充说，取消等待期后，买家也能避免该规定给寻求降级至转售组屋的前私宅业主带来的“卖房与买房之间的尴尬空档”。

较大型转售组屋需求或增

Huttons Asia数据分析高级董事李斯德（Lee Sze Teck）指出，自15个月等待期推出以来，私宅业主购买五房式或更大转售组屋的情况大体降温。该机构汇编的数据显示，五房式及行政型/多代同堂组屋转售成交量分别从2022年的6,951个和1,946个，降至2025年的5,966个和1,539个。

延伸阅读：市场动向：新加坡最大宗房产交易与最热搜索（7月24日）

随着等待期现已取消，李斯德预计会有更多私宅业主进入五房式及更大组屋的转售市场。不过他指出，虽然这或会提振转售市场交投，但组屋转售价格飙升“不太可能”，因为首次购房者可选范围更广，涵盖预购组屋、执行共管公寓（EC）乃至私宅。

Realion（OrangeTee & ETC）集团首席研究员兼策略师孙迎馨（Christine Sun）认为，在私宅买家降级带动下，更多百万组屋转售交易可期。不过任何价格急升料将局限于这一特定细分，因为高价组屋交易仅占转售组屋总成交的少数。

ERA的林恩权预计，此项调整将释放部分对转售组屋的积压需求，尤其是较大型、较新且地段优越的单位。此外，更大的灵活性或会促进私宅转售市场交投，因为业主会出售现有物业。

与此同时，SRI研究与数据分析主管Mohan Sandrasegeran预计，尽管修订后的政策或带来额外成交，转售组屋价格仍将保持稳定。他预测全年价格涨幅介于0.5%至2%。