Private property owners purchasing a non-subsidised resale flat no longer need to wait for 15 months. The wait-out period was implemented in 2022 to moderate demand, prioritise access to public housing for first-timers and ensure HDB resale flats remain affordable.

The removal of the 15-month wait-out period is timely, as all three objectives have been met in recent years.

1. Stabilisation of prices after ramp-up of supply – Since the consistent ramp-up supply of BTO flats over the past few years, coupled with more resale flats reaching MOP, resale prices have been growing at a more moderate pace. In fact, prices posted their second consecutive quarterly decrease in Q2 2026; and in the first half of 2026, overall prices dipped by 0.4 per cent, which is a strong reversal from the 2.5 per cent and 4.2 per cent price gains observed in the first halves of 2025 and 2024, respectively, according to HDB resale price index. With more HDB flats reaching MOP and another batch of new flats scheduled to be released in October this year, price growth may remain subdued in the second half of the year, hampered by macroeconomic uncertainties and a dimmer job outlook.

2. BTO application rates have been falling – Overall application rates for HDB’s BTO flats have been consistently falling, translating to higher ballot success rates for first-timers, amid an ample supply of BTO and SBF flats. The overall application rate of June BTO sales launch was 3.4, slightly lower than 3.7 in October 2025 and below the past 4-year average application rate of 3.9 (from February 2022 to February 2026).  This implies that competition for flats has eased and the ramp-up in BTO supply is meeting current housing demand.   

   

3. Less resale home demand – 6,396 resale flats were sold in Q2 2026, the lowest Q2 transaction volume since 3,426 resale flats were sold in Q2 2020 during the pandemic. Year-on-year, resale volume has also dropped.

During the launch of the 15-month wait-out period, demand for bigger flats such as 5-room flats fell, but subsequently rose, as buyers returned to the market after 15 months. Hence, we can infer that the wait-out period was effective during that period, and the policy change had a bigger impact on large resale units. This is because private homeowners are cash-rich after selling their private homes. They usually buy bigger resale flats for the space and value.

Therefore, the removal of the 15-month wait-out period will likely see the opposite effect, whereby demand and prices of bigger flats are expected to be boosted. Currently, the number of million-dollar resale transactions has been growing, and we expect to see more of such transactions, largely driven by the increased pool of private home buyers downgrading.  

However, a sudden surge in the number of premium flat transactions within this segment is unlikely to significantly impact the overall resale market. Because premium flat transactions still account for a minority of total transactions, any price spikes will likely be contained within this specific segment. Moreover, ample overall housing supply will continue to keep price growth stable and measured in the upcoming years.

With more private home buyers now able to buy bigger resale flats, demand for slightly smaller ones like 4-room resale flats may fall. Therefore, the two-speed market may persist, whereby demand and price growth may continue to be slow for smaller and less well-located flats, whereas newer and bigger resale flats may continue to perform well.

Rental demand for small condos and large HDB resale flats may be affected as locals who used to lease during the 15-month wait-out period no longer need to lease. Therefore, rental price growth and demand could slow down in the upcoming months.