Selling a Pasir Ris 4-Room to Buy in District 18: The Numbers at Q2 2026 Medians

This is an illustrative example on the quarter's median prices and a stated household, not a real family and not advice on whether to sell, buy, keep or rent out. It lays out the figures the position engine computes for each side of the question; the decision is the reader's.

Many flat owners reach a point where the question comes up. Sell the flat and move to a condo, or keep it and rent it out? The sums behind that question are rarely laid out in one place.

In this article, we look at one worked example at Q2 2026's medians. We cover what the flat sale nets, what the condo costs upfront and monthly, and what renting the flat out would earn. The figures come from HDB resale and rental approval records on data.gov.sg, URA Data Service caveats, and this site's own position engine.

The headline numbers are these. The flat's median is S$630,000 from 59 sales. The District 18 unit's median is S$1,330,000 from 53 sales.

What Does Selling the Flat Net?

The example couple bought in Q2 2020 at that quarter's median of S$420,000, from 53 sales. They took a 75% HDB loan. Six years on, the flat's median has moved up 50.0%.

The table below sets out the sale side.

The table shows a loan balance of about S$256,896 after six years. Selling costs come to about S$17,004. There is no seller's stamp duty at this holding period, so the sale nets about S$356,100. Note that these are medians for the town and flat type, not a valuation of any one home.

What Does the Condo Cost to Buy?

The purchase side assumes the flat is sold first. The median District 18 unit of 60 to 99 sqm transacted at S$1,330,000, with a median size of 904 sqft.

The table below lists the cash and CPF needed before the loan.

Buyer's stamp duty is S$37,800. The maximum loan is S$997,500, set by the 75% LTV limit. That leaves S$66,500 in cash and S$266,000 in CPF or cash, or S$370,300 before the loan. Against S$356,100 from the sale, the table shows a shortfall of S$14,200 to find elsewhere.

Order matters here. Buying the condo before the flat is sold would add ABSD at 20%, or S$266,000, under the rules as recorded. Remissions are not modelled in these figures.

How Would the Monthly Payment Change?

The flat instalment and the condo instalment sit side by side below. The condo figure assumes 3% over 27 years, with a 4% test rate shown as well.

The table shows the instalment moving from about S$1,429 on the flat to S$4,496 on the condo. That is a difference of S$3,067 a month. At the test rate, the condo figure is S$5,039 and the flat figure is S$1,610.

The 4% figure is a test rate, not a projection of where rates go. It is the rate used to check that the loan still works at a higher cost.

What Would Renting the Flat Out Earn?

The third side keeps the flat. Rent is estimated at S$3,400 a month, drawn from 33 recorded rental approvals for this town and flat type. That is a gross yield of 6.5%.

The table below nets out the running costs.

After tax, maintenance, vacancy and interest, the net carry is S$28,121 a year, or 4.5%. Property tax at the non-owner-occupied rate is S$1,714 a year and maintenance is S$900 a year. Note that 33 approvals is a small base, and rents in any quarter depend on the mix of flats let.

What Does Holding the Condo for Five Years Cost?

The engine also runs the condo as a five-year hold. Over that period the total cost comes to S$238,760, of which S$140,322 is interest.

For the price to cover that cost, it would need to rise 18.4% over the five years. This is a break-even figure computed from the costs above, not a statement about where prices go.

Summary

At Q2 2026's medians, the Pasir Ris 4-room sits at S$630,000 from 59 sales, up 50.0% on the Q2 2020 median of S$420,000. The sale nets about S$356,100 after the loan balance and selling costs. The District 18 unit at S$1,330,000 needs S$370,300 before the loan, leaving a shortfall of S$14,200. Renting the flat out instead gives a net carry of S$28,121 a year.

These figures come from recorded transactions and recorded rental approvals. They are indicative, and none of them is a valuation of a specific home. The data shows the middle of each market in one quarter. It cannot tell a reader what any one flat or unit would fetch, how rates move, or what the right order of buying and selling is for a given household.

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. It is taken at Q2 2026's median. The buyer is 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$997,500 (75% of the price), the maximum available. Property tax on an assumed annual value of S$36,720 (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.