I just spent my entire Friday afternoon looking at the latest HDB resale data for Q1 2026 and my blood is literally boiling. We are told prices are “stabilizing” because the Resale Price Index dipped a pathetic 0.1%. Oh wow, big victory guys! Let’s all go buy a celebratory $10 Cai Png to celebrate our newfound wealth.
I am 37 this year, I’ve worked my butt off in tech for over a decade, saved every cent, fasted like a monk, and I’m still looking at 4-room flats in “mature” estates hitting the $1M mark like it’s a milestone to be proud of. Since when did a 90sqm box in Ang Mo Kio or Bishan become a “luxury asset”?
And don’t even get me started on the BTO lottery. You wait 4–5 years for a house, and by the time you collect your keys, your kid is already halfway through primary school. If you’re “lucky” enough to get a Prime Location Public Housing (PLH) flat, you’re basically signing a 10-year MOP pact with the devil where you can’t even upgrade if your life circumstances change.
The Private Market is even more of a joke. I looked at a new launch in the Outside Central Region (OCR) recently. Suburban Singapore, mind you. Not Orchard, not Bukit Timah. The PSF is hitting $2,300 to $2,500. For what?! A “shoe-box” unit where I can literally touch both walls if I stretch? Developers keep saying “demand is resilient.” Yeah, it’s resilient because we literally have nowhere else to go! It’s either pay the “landlord tax” or sell your kidney for a downpayment.
The worst part is the gaslighting. Every month there’s a news article saying “Million-dollar HDBs are only a small percentage of transactions.” Bro, tell that to the young couples who are being priced out of their own childhood neighborhoods. Tell that to the singles who have to wait until 35 just to bid for a 2-room Flexi in the ulu corners of Tengah.
We are living in a system where the “sandwich class” is getting squeezed into a panini. You earn “too much” for grants, but “too little” to afford a decent condo without being house-poor for the next 30 years.
Honestly, what is the endgame here? Are we just working to hand over 40% of our lifetime earnings to the bank and the other 60% to the CPF Board? I’m tired, man.
TL;DR: Resale prices are “flat” but still at all-time highs, private property is for billionaires only, and the Singapore Dream is starting to feel more like a fever dream.