Buying In District 19 At The Q2 2026 Median Of S$1,468,000: What It Costs

This is an illustrative example built on the quarter's median price and a stated buyer profile. It is not a real purchase, not a valuation of any home, and not advice on whether or how to buy. Every figure in it is computed from recorded transactions and the tax and financing rules recorded as in force.

Buying a home is rarely just about the price. Stamp duty, the loan limit, the cash on hand and the running costs all shape what a purchase involves. This worked example puts those pieces side by side for one stated buyer.

In this article, we look at the stamp duty, the loan, the cash needed at purchase and the cost of holding for five years. We also compare stamp duty across four buyer profiles. The buyer is a Singapore citizen, aged 35, buying a first home with a household income of S$18,000 a month.

The headline figure is the quarter's median price of S$1,468,000 for a 60 to 99 sqm private unit in District 19 (Hougang, Serangoon Gardens, Punggol). It is based on private resale and new-sale records following URA Data Service caveats. The costs are computed by this site's own engine.

How Many Sales Sit Behind The Median?

The example starts with the sales that produce the median. The table below sets out the District 19 figures for Q2 2026.

The table shows 238 sales in the quarter. The median of S$1,468,000 is up 2.1% on the same quarter a year earlier, when it was S$1,438,000. Note that the median is a middle value of recorded transactions, so it is not a price for any single unit. The size of about 910 sqft is also a median across the sales.

What Does The Purchase Cost Up Front?

The first table below adds up what the buyer pays at purchase. The second sets out the loan that goes with it, a bank loan over 25 years.

Stamp duty comes to S$43,320. It is all buyer's stamp duty, as the additional buyer's stamp duty is S$0 at 0% for a first home owned by a citizen. The loan limit is S$1,101,000, which is 75.0% of the price. The loan-to-value limit is the one that binds. The limit under the TDSR is higher, at S$1,875,580.

Cash needed at purchase is at least S$73,400, with a further S$293,600 payable in CPF or cash. With stamp duty, that makes S$410,320 before the loan. The monthly instalment is S$5,221 at 3%, or 29.0% of the stated income. At the 4% stress rate used for the TDSR test, it is S$5,811.

What Does Holding For Five Years Cost?

The table below breaks down the cost of holding the home for 5 years. The hold figures take a sale at today's indicative mid value after 5 years. Interest comes from a standard amortisation schedule at 3%.

The total comes to S$260,562. Interest is the largest part at S$153,679. Property tax and maintenance add S$25,020. Costs going in are S$46,590 and costs coming out are S$35,272.

On these figures, the price needs to rise 18.1% over the five years to cover that total. This is an illustration built on stated inputs, so it says nothing about where prices actually go.

How Does Stamp Duty Differ By Buyer Profile?

Stamp duty depends on who is buying and whether it is their first home. The table below holds the price fixed and changes only the buyer.

The buyer's stamp duty is S$43,320 in every row. The difference comes from the additional buyer's stamp duty. A Singapore citizen buying a second home pays S$336,920 in total, at an ABSD rate of 20%. A permanent resident buying a first home pays S$116,720, at 5%. A foreigner pays S$924,120, at 60%.

Note the LTV cap column too. The cap is 45.0% for a citizen's second home and 75.0% for the other three profiles. Rates are versioned and were checked against IRAS and MAS publications on 2026-09-18.

Summary

For a first-time citizen buyer at District 19's Q2 2026 median of S$1,468,000, stamp duty is S$43,320 and the loan limit is S$1,101,000. The total before the loan is S$410,320. The monthly instalment is S$5,221 at 3% and S$5,811 at the stress rate. The five-year hold costs S$260,562 in all.

These figures come from recorded transactions and the rules in force. They are indicative, not a valuation of any home. They rest on one stated buyer profile and a median across 238 sales, so a different buyer, unit or loan would give different numbers.

Method: an illustrative example, not a real purchase. The price is the median of the quarter's recorded sales named. The buyer is a Singapore citizen first-time owner-occupier aged 35. The stated household income is S$18,000 a month, with no other debt. The loan is the maximum, over 25 years at 3%. Stamp duty, loan limits, instalments and the five-year hold cost are computed by this site's position engine under the rules recorded as in force for the quarter. The rule versions used are bsd 2023-02-15, absd 2023-04-27, ssd 2025-07-04, ltv 2024-08-20, tdsr 2022-09-30, property_tax 2025-01-01, costs 2020-01-01. Further assumptions: 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$1,101,000 (75% of the price), the maximum available. Property tax on an assumed annual value of S$35,700 (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.