An Ang Mo Kio 4-Room Sells At A Median S$652,400 — But The District 20 Condo Needs S$494,000 Before The Loan

This example uses the quarter's median prices for a made-up household, not a real family. It does not advise on selling, buying, keeping, or renting out a home. It only shows the numbers a pricing tool works out for each side of the question. The reader decides what to do with them.

People usually talk about how much the flat's price has gone up. But what really decides if you can move is the cash needed on the day you buy the new home. These two numbers do not always match. This is the tension in this example. The flat has gone up a lot in value. Yet the new purchase still falls short of enough cash, even before the new loan starts.

The numbers come from two sources: HDB resale records on data.gov.sg, and private caveats from the URA Data Service. A caveat is a legal document filed after a private property sale, showing the price paid. Both sets of data go through our own pricing tool. A 4-room flat in Ang Mo Kio had a median resale price of S$652,400 in Q2 2026, based on 78 sales. In Q2 2020, the median was S$405,000, based on 38 sales. A private unit of 60 to 99 square metres in District 20 had a median price of S$1,748,000 in the same quarter, based on 39 sales, with a median size of 904 square feet. Every figure here is a general guide from recorded sales. None of it values any specific home.

The flat's median has moved 61.1% since the quarter it was bought, and most of that shows up as equity

Start with what has already happened. The flat was bought in Q2 2020 at that quarter's median price, S$405,000, using a 75% HDB loan. This means S$303,750 of the price was borrowed. Six years later, the median price for the same type of flat in the same town is S$652,400. That is a rise of S$247,400, or 61.1%, according to the tool's measure. This measure compares one quarter's median price with another quarter's median price for 4-room flats in Ang Mo Kio. It does not track one single flat over time. The mix of blocks, floors, and remaining lease lengths behind the 38 sales in 2020 differs from the mix behind the 78 sales in 2026.

What the household would actually keep is the amount left after costs. The loan balance after six years is about S$247,721. Selling costs, covering the agent and legal work, come to about S$17,492. Seller's stamp duty is a tax charged when a home is sold soon after buying it. In this case, it is S$0, because enough time has passed under the rules as recorded. This leaves net proceeds of about S$387,186. Read this number as part of a sequence, not as a single headline. The price has risen by a large amount, but roughly a quarter of the sale price still goes toward repaying the original loan.

The table below shows the full details of the flat side.

The purchase needs S$494,000 before the loan, which leaves a shortfall of S$106,814

On the buying side, the median District 20 unit costs S$1,748,000. This attracts buyer's stamp duty, a tax paid when buying property, of S$57,000. There is no additional buyer's stamp duty, a higher tax for buyers who already own a home, if the flat has already been sold. The maximum loan is S$1,311,000. This is set by the 75% loan-to-value limit, meaning the loan can cover up to 75% of the price, rather than by income in this example. This leaves S$494,000 to be found before the loan starts: S$87,400 as minimum cash, and S$349,600 from CPF savings or cash.

Against that, selling the flat brings in about S$387,186. The tool records the difference as a shortfall of S$106,814, shown as a negative number in the table. This is the key figure in this example. It is a gap in the upfront cash needed, not a problem with paying the loan over time. It also assumes the two deals happen in the right order, so the money from selling the flat is ready exactly when needed. In real life, this depends on completion dates that the data cannot show.

One thing worth noting: 39 sales in the quarter is a small number to base a median on. The median size of 904 square feet sits within a 60 to 99 square metre range, which covers many different types of units.

Buying before the flat is sold puts S$349,600 of additional buyer's stamp duty into the same sum

The order in which the two deals happen changes the numbers more than anything else here. If the condo is bought while the flat is still owned, additional buyer's stamp duty applies at 20%, or S$349,600, under the rules as recorded. This is added on top of the S$57,000 buyer's stamp duty. It is roughly the same size as the entire CPF or cash portion of the purchase.

Two points should be added. Refunds, called remissions, are not included in this example. So the figure shown is the tax as charged, not what a household might end up paying after any refund. Also, tax rates change over time. The tool's rules were checked against IRAS and MAS publications on 2026-09-18. The newest version of the rules took effect on 2025-07-04. Rules like these are updated from time to time, and the figures change along with them.

The monthly instalment moves from about S$1,378 to S$5,909, a difference of S$4,531

The monthly payments show the clearest difference between the two options. Keeping the flat means paying about S$1,378 a month at the loan rate. Buying the condo, with a loan of S$1,311,000 at 3% interest over 27 years, means paying about S$5,909 a month. That is a difference of S$4,531 a month between the two.

The second row in the table below shows the same two loans, but measured at a higher rate: 4% for the condo. The tool uses this higher rate as a stress test. This is just a standard method applied equally to both loans. It is not a rate anyone actually pays, and it does not predict future rates. It simply shows the payment under a tougher assumption. Under this measure, the flat's monthly payment is S$1,553, and the condo's is S$6,623.

Here is how the tool lays out this comparison.

Holding the condo for five years costs S$313,600 in all, and the rental leg of this example returns nothing

Beyond the purchase price, the tool also works out the cost of holding the property. Owning the District 20 unit for five years costs S$313,600 in total. Of this, S$184,424 is mortgage interest. The rest covers property tax, based on an assumed annual value of S$45,900, plus standard maintenance costs. It also includes selling the unit at the end at today's typical price, with 2% commission, S$3,000 in legal fees, and 9% GST, a goods and services tax. For all these costs to be covered, the price would need to rise by 18.3% over the five years. This is simply the break-even point, not a prediction that the price will actually rise this much.

There is a third option in this example: renting out the flat instead of selling it. But this quarter's data does not cover that option. The tool did not return any rental figures for this case. So there is no estimated rental yield or monthly rent to compare with the two options above. This information would normally come from rental approvals published on data.gov.sg. Without it, this example only compares selling the flat with buying the condo.

A good deal is left open here. The shortfall of S$106,814 is measured against one quarter's medians on both sides, and medians drawn from 78 flat sales and 39 private sales can move with the mix of what transacted as much as with price itself. The engine's stamp duty and loan-to-value figures reflect the rules as recorded at the dates in its rules file, and those dates matter as much as the prices. What the next quarter's data can settle is narrow but useful: whether the Ang Mo Kio 4-room median holds near S$652,400, whether the District 20 band stays near S$1,748,000 on a larger count of sales, and whether the rental leg produces a figure at all.

On its own, the 61.1% rise in the flat's value tells a simple story. The S$494,000 needed before the loan tells a different story. Neither number is wrong. They simply answer different questions. The full picture only makes sense when both numbers are seen together. This is often how it works with a single headline figure in this market. It is a starting point for further calculation, not the final answer. The real value lies in how it compares with everything else the quarter's data shows.

Method: the flat is a 4-room in the town, bought at the median of Q2 2020 with a 75% HDB loan at 2.6% over 25 years, of which 6 years have been paid; its value today is Q2 2026's median; selling costs, seller's stamp duty, equity, the rent estimate and the carry are the position engine's under the rules recorded as in force. The condo is a 60 to 99 sqm resale in the nearest district with enough sales within 2.5 km of the town, at Q2 2026's median, bought by a citizen aged 38 with a household income of S$15,000 a month and no other debt. sale at today's indicative mid value after 5 years; seller pays 2% commission and S$3,000 legal fees, plus 9% GST; mortgage interest from a standard amortisation schedule at the given rate; loan of S$1,311,000 (75% of the price), the maximum available; property tax on an assumed annual value of S$45,900 (85% of market rent); maintenance at the configured norm. Rates are versioned data in config/rules.yaml, checked against IRAS and MAS publications on 2026-09-18; the newest version applied here took effect 2025-07-04. Rules change with each cooling-measure round. Private figures are from URA Data Service caveats, HDB figures from data.gov.sg resale records, both loaded weekly by this site's ingest. Medians are of the non-excluded transactions in the period named; sales flagged by the hygiene rules (related-party transfers, bulk deals, outliers) are left out. Every figure is indicative and drawn from recorded transactions, not a formal valuation.