Over the past 15 years, the number of Singaporeans residing in private condominiums h

Over the past 15 years, the number of Singaporeans residing in private condominiums has doubled

Additionally, ownership data indicates that between 2009 and 2024, resident households will purchase more private property.

March 10, 2025

CONDOsingapore.com

Due to upgrader buying, rising incomes, and changing tastes, the number of Singaporeans—both citizens and permanent residents—living in condominiums and other private apartments has doubled over the past 15 years.

The same pattern can be seen in ownership data, which shows that from 90,942 in 2009 to 220,756 in 2024—an increase of nearly 2.5 times or 129,814 households—more resident households now own the condos and apartments in which they reside.

Upgraders cashing out their Housing and Development Board (HDB) apartments into a thriving resale market have historically been a major factor in condo purchases.

However, observers warn that future buying power may be impacted as private property prices have also reached all-time highs in recent years and job prospects may become less promising as Singapore's cost competitiveness declines.

The number of Singapore citizens and permanent residents residing in private non-landed homes increased by 348,986 (98%) from 357,532 in 2009 to 706,518 in 2024, according to data from the Singapore Department of Statistics (SingStat). Those who rent their homes are included in the figures.

Over the same time period, the number of people residing in public housing increased as well, but by a much smaller amount—by 3%, or 97,992—from 3.1 million to 3.2 million.

Consequently, the percentage of inhabitants residing in private non-landed residences increased from 9.6% in 2009 to 16.9% of all inhabitants in 2024.

Over the same 15-year period, the percentage of people living in HDB apartments decreased from 82.8% in 2009 to 76.3%.

In contrast, the percentage of people residing in landed homes decreased during that period from 6.6% to 5.9%.

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A more thorough examination of ownership data also sheds light on the purchase of both public and private housing. Overall home ownership increased by roughly 34% from 994,500 households in 2009 to approximately 1.3 million households in 2024.

In 2024, about 124,000 households rented their homes, an increase of about 10% from the total in 2009.

Ownership of private apartments and condos increased more than that of HDB apartments in percentage terms.

Over the course of 15 years, the number of HDB apartment owners increased by roughly 24%, whereas the number of private condo and apartment owners increased by roughly 143%. However, in absolute terms, 197,742 more households owned HDB apartments in 2024 than in 2009; this is more than the 129,814 additional households that owned private condos and apartments during that same period.

According to SingStat data, approximately 220,756 households, or 85% of Singaporean households residing in condos and other apartments, owned the properties in which they resided in 2024. This is in contrast to 90,942 households, or 77%, in 2009.

Both citizen and PR-owned properties are included in the figures. About 22,000 new citizens and 30,000 citizen babies are born in Singapore each year. In contrast, PRs are free to purchase non-landed private residences, but they will have to pay extra stamp duty. PR purchases of executive condos and HDB apartments are subject to restrictions.

PRs made up between 12 and 13 percent of new sales volume and 19 to 21 percent of non-landed resale volume between 2018 and 2023, according to real estate consulting firm List Sotheby's International Realty.

Ninety-two percent of households owned their landed homes, a percentage that remained constant from 2009.

In terms of public housing, 92.2% of households residing in HDB apartments were the owners of their unit, which was a slight increase from 90.4% in 2009.

According to a statement made in response to a parliamentary question in February, there were 174,000 residential properties in 2024 that were not owner-occupied in addition to owner-occupied homes. The figure, which serves as a stand-in for properties owned as investments, increased by 4.8% from 166,000 in 2020.

Rising trend

Homeowners' natural desire to "upgrade" to private housing has been strengthened by rising affluence, according to Tricia Song, head of research for South-east Asia at CBRE.

Strong household balance sheets, consistently rising HDB resale prices, and still-low unemployment rates all contributed to the ability to upgrade, according to Wong Xian Yang, research head at Cushman & Wakefield.

Between 2009 and 2024, HDB resale prices increased by 81.6%, whereas non-landed residential property prices increased by 71.8%.

Alongside this, overall incomes have increased. According to Singstat data, the median monthly income for resident households in 2024 was S$9,541, which was 78% more than the S$5,360 monthly income in 2009. Employer contributions to the Central Provident Fund are included in this.

Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia, noted that one noteworthy trend is the younger age of private property buyers.

According to him, five years ago, only 20% of purchasers of new private homes were 35 years of age or younger; today, about 30% of them are.

According to Cushman's Wong, people who are more interested in investing might also be more drawn to private properties than HDB apartments. HDB apartments cannot be sold or fully rented out until they have completed a minimum occupancy period (MOP) of five or ten years.

Alan Cheong, executive director of research and consulting at Savills Singapore, noted that starting salaries have increased significantly over the past 15 years.

More first-time buyers may be "priced out" of HDB's Build-To-Order (BTO) market as a result of this and the fact that more people are getting married later in life. According to Cheong, this is because their combined incomes exceed the S$14,000 monthly income cap, which prevents them from purchasing a BTO.

"They could definitely go to the HDB resale market," Cheong stated. However, because members of the later Generation Y and early Generation X cohorts are "more educated and well-traveled," their preferences for housing types may lean more towards private than public residences.

Home prices at the "entry level" suburban condo market, which is classified as the Outside Central Region segment, increased by 113.5 percent between Q4 2009 and Q4 2024, while HDB resale flat prices increased by 81.6 percent during the same period.

"Even though they could more easily afford HDB resale apartments, they might move towards the private end of the housing spectrum with the help of their parents' equity down payment," Cheong said.

Over the past 15 years, private property demand has levelled off, but new supply has also increased.

The National University of Singapore Business School's provost's chair professor of real estate, Prof. Sing Tien Foo, observed that state land and collective sales were significantly higher during that period. Nearly 30 sites were sold in 2017, marking the peak of en bloc activity, before a wave of cooling measures flooded the market in 2018.

According to him, this might have increased the market's supply of fresh private non-landed stock.

Ismail Gafoor, the chief executive of PropNex, suggested that the trend of more people living in private homes could also be explained by declining household sizes.

Singaporeans' average household size decreased from 3.7 in 2000* to 3.11 in 2023. During that period, the percentage of households with a single person nearly doubled, rising from 8.2 percent to 15.6%.

Upgrading demand

According to some analysts, the trend towards private property ownership will continue as incomes rise in tandem with economic expansion and HDB upgrader purchases are fueled by persistently rising resale values.

According to Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee Group, many prospective homeowners may be able to afford condo purchases.

The number of resale apartments sold for S$800,000 or more increased dramatically from 2,569 units in 2022 to 4,359 units in 2024, according to Sun. "This pattern might persist in the upcoming years," she stated.

Furthermore, according to Cheong, older people are now "downgrading" from private properties to HDB apartments, in contrast to the past when rising HDB prices caused more upgraders to move to private housing. HDB resale prices rise as a result.

According to him, "this algorithm will continue to ratchet up prices, fed by immigration, new family formation, and ageing downgraders – all in a fostered environment where supply is calibrated to not go into significant excesses."

According to Cheong, lower-income families might find it difficult to pay for a resale apartment close to their parents.

Nonetheless, HDBs will remain Singapore's mainstay of housing and the "choice of home" for the majority, according to PropNex's Gafoor.

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Wong anticipates that as time goes on, the rate of upgrading will slow.

Caveats data from 2024 revealed that people with HDB addresses purchased 6,022 units, or 30% of all transactions.

By contrast, in 2009, a significantly higher number of units—roughly 11,954 units, or 41.9% of all transactions—had HDB address purchasers.

Those with HDB addresses bought 15,180 units, or almost half of all transactions, in 2012, marking the peak of this proxy for upgrader buying.

Wong added that the launch of Prime and Plus BTO apartments, which have limitations on future sales, like a 10-year MOP, would further reduce demand for upgrades.