35 & Single: What’s Next? BTO or Resale HDB?

The legal age to own a property in Singapore is 21, it doesn’t matter if you are getting a public or private house. When it comes to owning an HDB flat, singles can only purchase them earliest at the age of 35.

Whereas for a private property, it is possible to go solo and own it by yourself if you had the means to by 21. But for the sake of our 35 year old single friends, we shall dissect and see which option is the best for them.

The flat types for singles have evolved over the years, it used to be far more restrictive with lesser options for them to choose from. In our current day, singles are eligible to almost all types of HDB flats, with the only tighter limitations being applied on BTO unit types.

Eligibility Terms:

HDB Schemes for Singles

There are two schemes for singles to buy an HDB flat in Singapore, the Single Singapore Citizen Scheme and the Joint Singles Scheme. The first scheme is rather straightforward, it essentially grants the rights to unmarried singles to own their own HDB flat, be it through BTO projects or bought directly from the resale HDB market.

On the other hand, the Joint Singles Scheme allows for up to four unmarried singles to jointly purchase an HDB flat. Under this scheme, the parties involved would just have to decide to register their names under tenancy or tenancy-in-common.

There are three types of grants that singles may be eligible to apply for – Singles Grant, Enhanced Housing Grant & Proximity Housing Grant. The grant(s) vary depending on the type of HDB flat you are purchasing.

This is probably a more economical and familiar route, it is only probable because you’ve seen how some new BTOs flats can cost more than a resale flat when comparing the different areas. I suppose the greatest downside of going for a BTO project is that the wait is about four years, and for a single person who has waited for 35 years to buy their own place, I’m not sure if this is something that would appeal to them unless it is due to financial constraints. On top of that, you’ll need to live there for AT LEAST five years before being able to sell and upgrade if that is in your plans to. That will be a total of nine years.

Just for your benefit, here are the prices of 2-room Flexi in the latest June 2024 BTO project launch:

If you didn’t know or will soon find out below, resale home prices tend to be more expensive than BTOs. Location and amenities aside, the perk of getting a resale flat for singles is the ability to get the home almost immediately. Another huge plus point is that you are able to choose from any home size, because some people prefer having larger space or have the financial capabilities to own a larger home. Or even ones who simply just want to live near their family members or work places.

With the above chart generated by PropNex’s proprietary app, Investment Suite, we are able to analyse both historical and LIVE data and have meaningful information for better clarity. We can see from the data generated with Investment Suite that the overall price for HDB flats in June 2024 sts at $611 psf.

And to reward you for reading thus far, here are the transaction prices of 3- , 4- , and 5-room HDB flats for the past two quarters.

There are several factors to consider before making the ultimate decision. If you have the time to wait and perhaps do not want to splash so much on a home, then maybe the BTO route is perfect for you – do take note that you won’t have space as luxury due to the 2-room Flexi limit. But for those who are either looking to move in almost immediately, a bigger home, or have the ability to choose which town they prefer to live in, then going for resale is definitely a no brainer.

You can also explore the private property route, albeit it would probably strain your wallet a little more. But that strain to your wallet might prove to be a worthy route to take especially given the potential to greatly boost your assets. In fact, many don’t realise that they are within reach of affording a condominium.

If you are also interested in how much singles have to make to afford a condominium, and also the upsides of living in a private property, contact us HERE.