Selling a Tampines 4-Room at S$665,000 To Buy in District 18: The Q2 2026 Numbers

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.

Plenty of flat owners reach a point where the flat is worth more than they paid. The next question is what that gain actually covers. A number on paper is not the same as money in hand after a loan is repaid.

In this article, we look at one stated household three ways. We set out the sale of the flat, the cost of buying and holding a District 18 condo, and the income from renting the flat out instead. Each side uses the same quarter's medians.

The Tampines 4-room median was S$665,000 in Q2 2026, from 222 sales. That comes from HDB resale data on data.gov.sg. The District 18 median for a 60 to 99 sqm private unit was S$1,275,000, from 101 sales recorded in URA Data Service caveats.

What Would The Flat Sale Net?

The couple in this example bought in Q2 2020. That quarter's Tampines 4-room median was S$422,900, from 94 sales. They took a 75% HDB loan.

The table below runs the sale through our position engine, from purchase price to money in hand.

The flat's median has moved 57.2% since the purchase quarter, a change of S$242,100. Against that sits a loan balance of about S$258,670 after six years. Selling costs come to about S$17,767, and seller's stamp duty is S$0 at this holding period. The table shows net proceeds of about S$388,563.

What The Condo Costs Up Front

The next side is the purchase. The engine prices a 60 to 99 sqm unit in District 18 at the Q2 2026 median, with a median size of 915 sqft.

The table below sets out stamp duty, the loan limit and the cash and CPF needed.

Buyer's stamp duty is S$35,600. The loan is capped at S$956,250, which is 75% of the price, set by the LTV limit. That leaves S$63,750 in minimum cash and S$255,000 in CPF or cash, so S$354,350 is needed before the loan. Measured against the sale proceeds, the engine shows a surplus of S$34,213.

Note the order of the two deals. If the condo is bought before the flat is sold, ABSD applies at 20%, or S$255,000, under the rules as recorded. Remissions are not modelled here.

Month By Month, And Over Five Years

Up-front cash is one half of the picture. The monthly instalment is the other. The condo loan is priced at 3% over 27 years.

The table below shows both homes at the loan rate and at the stress rate.

The instalment moves from about S$1,439 on the flat to S$4,310 on the condo, a difference of S$2,871 a month. The 4% column is a test rate on the same loan. It shows what the instalment would be at that rate, at S$4,831 on the condo and S$1,622 on the flat.

Holding the condo for five years adds up to S$229,799 in the engine's run, of which S$134,520 is interest. On the stated assumptions, the price would need to rise 18.4% to cover that total.

What Renting The Flat Out Would Earn

The third side keeps the flat and puts it on the rental market. The rent estimate comes from 16 recorded approvals, so the sample is small and the figure is indicative.

The table below shows the rent, the yearly costs and what is left.

Estimated rent is S$3,650 a month, a gross yield of 6.6%. Property tax at the non-owner-occupied rate is S$1,840 a year and maintenance is S$900. After vacancy, tax and maintenance, net rent is S$37,425 a year. Interest on the remaining loan takes S$6,725, leaving a net carry of S$30,700 a year, or 4.6%.

Summary

At Q2 2026 medians, the sale of this example flat nets about S$388,563 after the loan balance, selling costs and no seller's stamp duty. The District 18 purchase needs S$354,350 before the loan, leaving a surplus of S$34,213. The instalment difference between the two homes is S$2,871 a month at the stated rates. Renting the flat out instead shows a net carry of S$30,700 a year.

These are indicative figures from recorded transactions and rental approvals, not a valuation of any home. The medians cover whole towns and size bands, so a specific flat or unit can sit well above or below them. The rent figure rests on 16 approvals only, and stamp duty, LTV and tax rules are applied as recorded at the versions in our rules file. The figures cannot settle which side suits 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$956,250 (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.