Many younger buyers of million-dollar HDB flats were getting their first homes or upsizing: PropNex survey

Among buyers in their 30s and 40s who snapped up million-dollar resale flats last year, a significant proportion were either purchasing their first homes or upsizing from a smaller HDB unit, according to observations by PropNex real estate salespersons.

On the other hand, most of the older buyers were mainly downsizing, be it from private property or a larger HDB flat.

In terms of their occupations and salaries, the firm’s survey findings indicated that the majority of purchasers (across all age groups) worked in professional, managerial, executive and technical (PMET) roles, and most of the households were earning five-figure incomes each month.

Read also: Resale flat prices fall for second straight quarter, down 0.3% in 2Q2026: HDB flash estimates

School proximity was one of the least influential factors in these buyers’ decisions, whereas being in a certain neighbourhood was among the key determinants.

Meanwhile, nearly seven in 10 of the buyers did not have to fork out cash over valuation (COV) for the million-dollar flat they purchased, which suggests that the prices are supported by valuation.

PropNex polled its agents who had transacted a total of 110 units of million-dollar flats in 2025.

Varying buyer motivations for million-dollar flats

For about four in 10 of those aged 30–39, the million-dollar flat was their maiden residential property purchase.

These younger first-time homebuyers bought four-room, five-room, executive and jumbo flats situated in towns including Bukit Merah, Kallang Whampoa, Queenstown, and Toa Payoh. Transaction prices ranged from $1 million to $1.659 million.

As for those aged 40–49, about 46.3% of them were previously living in smaller public housing. These upgraders purchased five-room and executive flats priced from $1 million to $1.38 million. They favoured locations such as Bishan, Bukit Merah, Clementi, Geylang, Serangoon, Tampines and Toa Payoh.

Overall, buyers within the 30–49 age bands made up the lion’s share (71%) of the 110 transactions tracked in the survey. Buyers aged 50 and above represented about 24.5% of the sales.

Read also: HDB resale transactions slow y-o-y in first quarter of 2026; uptick in million-dollar flats

Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at the firm, said that the findings suggest that million-dollar flats “may serve quite different purposes” depending on the buyer’s life stage.

“For younger buyers, a million-dollar resale flat may be an aspirational first home. For mid-career families, it could be an upgrading pathway that stays within the public housing segment,” she added.

Meanwhile, for older buyers, they often opt to “rightsize” and may potentially be trading unit size for location and convenience, whether they are coming from a private home or a larger HDB flat, Wong noted.

Among buyers aged 60 and above — most of them retirees — who purchased million-dollar HDB resale flats last year, a large portion (71.4%) were getting a replacement home after downsizing from a private residential property.

This cohort went for four-room flats with resale prices ranging from $1 million to $1.328 million.

And among buyers aged 50–59, downsizers made up a relatively smaller portion (46.2%) — with only 30.8% of the group relocating from a private home while 15.4% were previously living in a bigger HDB flat.

When asked what drew the buyers to the specific flat transacted, salespeople pointed to interest in the particular town or neighbourhood, proximity to an MRT station, and a high floor as the leading factors.

Read also: What’s moving the market: Singapore's biggest property deals and hottest searches (April 17)

In contrast, the least instrumental factors included being near “good schools”, the physical condition of the flat, and being priced out of private homes in the same locale.

“The limited weight given to school proximity could be partly explained by the substantial share of two-person households among the buyer cohort, at 31.8%,” PropNex noted.

COV not payable for most transactions

The agents observed that about 69.1% of the buyers did not pay COV.

About 11.8% of buyers forked out COV of less than $40,000, and 6.4% paid a sum between $40,000 and less than $80,000.

Only 3.6% paid a hefty $80,000 to $100,000 in COV for their property, while 5.5% reportedly faced COV exceeding $100,000.

PropNex highlighted that the salespersons were unsure of the COV for 3.6% of the deals evaluated.

Most buyers are PMETs and high-earners

More than seven in 10 of those who bought million-dollar HDB resale flats last year held PMET jobs, based on the property agents’ responses.

In terms of monthly household income, salespersons offered estimations, as they were either unsure or the buyer did not disclose their income for one-quarter of the cases.

The respondents said that around 35.5% of buyers earned between $10,001 and $16,000 a month — the largest single band.

Meanwhile, 20% brought in $16,001 to $20,000 a month. Just 3.6% had monthly household incomes of $20,001 to $25,000, and 2.7% raked in more than $25,000.

At the other end, 11.8% of the buyers had $5,000 to $10,000 in household income, while 0.9% were earning less than $5,000 a month.

Ground-level perspectives

The 110 deals evaluated in the study were priced up to about $1.659 million.

In terms of transaction volume, 47 deals (42.7%) involved four-room flats. This was followed by five-room flats at 39 deals (35.5%).

Executive flats accounted for 22 transactions (20%), while two (1.8%) were jumbo flats.

PropNex CEO Kelvin Fong said the number of transactions in the study forms “a modest base” that the agency aims to build on and sharpen over time, and that the survey responses nonetheless offer useful ground-level perspectives on the buyer groups.

“There is no shortage of transaction data on million-dollar resale flats, but almost nothing on who bought them or why. As Singapore’s largest real estate agency, we took the initiative to find out rather than speculate,” Fong added.

With such flats becoming a more established feature of the resale property landscape in Singapore, there may be greater interest in understanding the buyers’ profiles, in PropNex’s view.

In 2026 thus far, as of July 16, there were 1,002 HDB flats resold for at least $1 million per transaction data. This is on track to meet or even exceed the record volume of 1,593 of such flats transacted in the whole of last year, the agency said.

In the past fortnight to July 14, the 10 most expensive HDB homes transacted carried price tags ranging from $1.35 million ($1,100 psf) to $1.555 million ($1,350 psf), based on EdgeProp Singapore’s latest weekly round-up of the market’s top property deals.

Units at developments such as The Pinnacle @ Duxton, a 50-storey project along Cantonment Road, often make the list of priciest resale flats transacted.