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Most of what you read online about HDB valuation is guesswork. This isn’t. It’s built on HDB’s own explanation of how it values a flat, HDB’s transaction records, and the latest official figures on cash over valuation.
Start with the source that matters most: HDB, in its own name, explaining its method.
What HDB said
- Buyers using CPF or a housing loan must get HDB’s valuation before they exercise the Option to Purchase.
- The value sets how much CPF and loan the buyer can use. HDB says it is not meant for negotiation or marketing.
- Valuers are licensed professionals from HDB’s panel. They start from recent resale prices, then adjust for location, lease, floor level, size, renovation and orientation, and weigh current market conditions.
Why it’s here
It is the official answer to “how is my flat valued?” Everything in this article about pricing your flat follows from it.
How HDB valuation works in 2026.
Before March 2014, sellers could request a valuation first, then set a price on top of it. That’s gone. Today the order is reversed, and most sellers don’t realise it until they’re halfway through a deal.
- Day 0Price agreed. OTP granted.
Your buyer pays an option fee of up to S$1,000. The 21-day option period starts.
You and your buyer - Next working dayRequest for Value.
A buyer using CPF or a housing loan submits it on the HDB Flat Portal. Fee: S$120 including GST, non-refundable.
Your buyer - Following daysHDB assesses the flat.
HDB decides whether a site visit is needed. If it is, a licensed valuer from HDB’s panel inspects the flat.
HDB - Typically within 10 working daysThe value is released.
HDB emails the buyer once the value is on the HDB Flat Portal. HDB does not tell you.
HDB to your buyerYou don’t see it - By day 21Your buyer decides.
Exercise the OTP: pay the exercise fee (with the option fee, capped at S$5,000) and any gap above valuation in cash. Or walk away, and you keep the option fee.
Your buyer
HDB tells the buyer, not you. The buyer can share it. They don’t have to. And in HDB’s own words, the value is “not intended for negotiation or marketing purposes”. It exists to set how much CPF and loan the buyer can use.
So the number that can make or break your sale lands after your price is already set.
What happens when the valuation comes back.
| Valuation vs agreed price | What your buyer faces | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Higher | Nothing changes. They pay the agreed price. | Deal proceeds. You may have priced too low. |
| Same | CPF and the loan can cover up to the full price. | Deal proceeds on schedule. |
| Lower | CPF and the loan only count up to the valuation. The gap is cash, on top of their downpayment. | If they can’t find the cash, they renegotiate or walk away. You keep the option fee, but lose weeks and go back to market. |
Source: HDB Request for Value terms and resale procedures, checked 6 Oct 2026; HDB letter to The Straits Times, 2 Oct 2024. Simplified for illustration; loan and CPF limits depend on each buyer’s situation.
That third row is where most failed deals start. Every dollar above valuation is cash your buyer has to find, and buyers with that much spare cash are a smaller pool than the one you were counting on.
The market in one table. Then the part that matters.
HDB’s resale price index slipped 0.2% in the third quarter of 2026, to 202.4. That’s the third small fall in a row, after 0.1% in Q1 and 0.3% in Q2. At the same time, more flats changed hands, and more of them crossed a million dollars than in any quarter on record.
| Quarter | Resale deals | S$1m and above | Share | 4-room median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | 6,939 | 480 | 6.9% | S$630,000 |
| Q4 2025 | 5,020 | 350 | 7.0% | S$630,000 |
| Q1 2026 | 6,042 | 411 | 6.8% | S$628,000 |
| Q2 2026 | 6,184 | 490 | 7.9% | S$630,000 |
| Q3 2026 | 7,413 | 596 | 8.0% | S$628,000 |
Source: HDB resale flat prices via data.gov.sg, by registration date, retrieved 6 Oct 2026. Price index from HDB’s flash estimate, 1 Oct 2026. HDB’s own counts use approval dates and differ slightly: HDB reports 7,528 deals and 597 million-dollar flats for Q3. Past transactions are not a prediction of future prices.
Read the last column. A year of headlines, a National Day Rally, the removal of the 15-month wait-out for private property owners, and the typical four-room flat sold for within S$2,000 of where it was twelve months ago.
The official reading agrees. Part of the reason is supply: 13,480 flats reach their minimum occupation period this year, so more sellers are competing for the same buyers.
What the article reports
- Resale prices fell 0.2% in Q3, the third straight quarterly dip, even after the 15-month wait-out was lifted.
- Deals rose to 7,528, up 5.2% on a year earlier, and million-dollar flats rose to 597 from 491 in Q2, mostly in Toa Payoh, Queenstown and Bukit Merah.
- HDB said it had not seen a significant rise in prices or purchases by private property downgraders. An analyst pointed to the 13,480 flats reaching MOP this year.
Why it’s here
It confirms the table above with HDB’s own count, and it is HDB, not us, saying the extra buyers did not push prices up.
But a median hides everything that matters to you. In Tampines alone last quarter, four-room flats sold from about S$575,000 at the low end to S$806,000 at the high end, and that’s after cutting off the top and bottom tenth.
One block, six months.
Block 618B Tampines Street 61. Every flat in this table is a four-room, 93 sqm, Model A, completed in 2021, with about 94 years left on the lease. Same building. Same layout. Same lease.
| Floor | Sales | Lowest | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 2 | S$720,000 | S$740,000 |
| 7 to 9 | 2 | S$760,000 | S$770,000 |
| 10 to 12 | 4 | S$795,000 | S$820,000 |
| 13 to 15 | 7 | S$800,000 | S$835,000 |
Source: HDB resale flat prices via data.gov.sg, April to September 2026 registrations, retrieved 6 Oct 2026. Individual unit facing, condition and renovation are not in the public data.
Same block. Same 93 sqm. S$115,000 apart.
Any “HDB valuation” that gives you one number for your town or your street can’t see that. Neither can the price index. HDB’s valuers can, because of how they work.
How a valuer gets to the number.
HDB has explained the method publicly, in a letter signed by its Director of Policy and Property.
“Using the recent resale transactions as a reference, valuers will make appropriate adjustments…”
In plain terms, it has three steps.
- Start with evidence. The valuer pulls recent resale prices of comparable flats nearby. That’s the anchor, the same kind of table you see above.
- Adjust for the flat in front of them. No two flats are identical, so the valuer moves the number up or down for the things that make yours different.
- Read the market. Finally, the valuer weighs the current state of the market and the economy before settling on an assessed value.
Step two is where the S$115,000 lives. Here’s what gets adjusted, and what it means for your flat.
| The valuer adjusts for | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Location | Which block, how close to the MRT, what it looks onto. Two blocks on the same street can value differently. |
| Remaining lease | Fewer years left generally means a lower value, even for the same size and layout. |
| Floor level | Higher floors usually command more. In block 618B, the typical gap between floors 1 to 3 and floors 13 to 15 was about S$90,000. |
| Size | Measured in sqm. A few extra square metres show up in the number. |
| Renovation | Condition counts. A well-kept, updated flat can sit above an untouched one. |
| Orientation | Which way it faces: afternoon sun, wind, noise, view. |
| Market conditions | The current market and economy, applied on top of everything else. |
Source: HDB letter to The Straits Times Forum, 2 Oct 2024. Explanations are ours.
Price the way the valuer thinks. Start from the cluster of sales that look most like your flat, then be honest about where yours sits: floor, facing, condition. If your asking price sits above that cluster, you’re asking your buyer to bring the difference in cash.
An open question
If prices keep slipping, do valuations slip ahead of them?
Valuers consider the prevailing market. The market has eased 0.1% to 0.3% a quarter for three quarters running. So does every valuation now carry a small discount for the direction of travel? Or do valuers stick closely to the last few months of sales, which in a slowly falling market sit slightly above where prices are heading?
We don’t know, and HDB hasn’t said. This is a question, not a finding. If you’ve sold recently and your buyer’s valuation came in below the comparable sales you were looking at, we’d like to hear about it: tell us on WhatsApp.
Cash over valuation: what the official numbers say.
COV is what a buyer pays in cash when the agreed price is above the valuation. During the 2021 rush, it became the thing every seller asked about. The official numbers since then tell a different story.
| Period | Resale buyers who paid COV |
|---|---|
| 2020 | about 1 in 5 |
| 2021 | about 36% |
| 2022 | about 29% |
| Feb 2023 to Mar 2024 | about 18% |
| Median COV, all buyers | S$0 |
Source: Ministry of National Development, answer in Parliament on 6 Mar 2024, as reported by CNA. The drop followed the larger CPF Housing Grant from Feb 2023. No official COV figure has been published since.
What the article reports
- In Parliament, Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How said about 18% of resale buyers paid COV after the CPF Housing Grant was raised in Feb 2023.
- That was down from about 29% in 2022 and 36% in 2021. The median COV across all buyers stayed at S$0.
- He declined to link grant amounts to COV paid, saying buyers and sellers could collude to get around it.
Why it’s here
These are the most recent official COV figures. Anything more recent you see quoted is an estimate, not government data.
More than four in five buyers paid nothing above valuation, and the typical buyer paid zero. That was in early 2024, when prices were still rising. Prices have eased since. If someone quotes you a 2026 COV figure, ask where it came from, because there isn’t an official one.
Asking above valuation still works for some flats: high floors with an open view, rare layouts, units a short walk from the MRT, flats in estates where almost nothing comes up for sale. For the typical flat, plan on selling at or near valuation.
Two policy changes this year widened the buyer pool. On 28 July, private property owners no longer had to wait 15 months to buy a resale flat. On 24 August, the income ceilings for HDB loans and CPF housing grants went up. More buyers, yes. But as we covered in our income ceiling breakdown, the second change affects how buyers pay more than how much they can pay. Expect more offers at valuation, not bigger cheques above it.
Where valuation fits in the decision.
A valuation answers one question: what is this flat worth today? It doesn’t tell you whether selling is the right move, or what you can safely buy next.
The H.O.M.E. Framework.
- HThe Foundation · Holding Power
- Can you survive holding the next place when life doesn’t go to plan? Stress-tested CPF runway, interest rate moves, and a 12-month cash buffer come before any property is shortlisted.
- OThe Daily Reality · Ownership Quality
- Is it a genuinely good unit, or just a good label? Bedroom usability, layout efficiency, privacy, kitchen practicality: the friction that compounds every day you live there.
- MThe Price Discipline · Market Price
- Is the price supported by actual transaction evidence, same block, same size, same floor band? Profit is determined at purchase, not at sale.
- EThe Future Buyer · Exit Strategy
- Who’s the realistic buyer, and can they afford it? Today, that’s your buyer. Five to eight years from now, it’s the buyer of your next home.
Your valuation lives under Market Price, and it is someone else’s Exit Strategy: whoever buys your flat is betting they can sell it on later. If your price only works for a buyer stretching to the limit, your pool is thin. That’s the conversation worth having before you list.
Valuation is step one. Proceeds are step two.
The number that decides your upgrade isn’t the sale price. It’s what’s left after you repay the outstanding loan and refund your CPF, including the accrued interest. On a flat bought ten or more years ago, that refund can be much larger than people expect. Here’s how the accrued interest works.
Then the real question: can you hold the next place comfortably, at today’s rates and if rates rise?
Know what you can safely hold before you know what you can buy.
Run the Holding Power Calculator →Questions sellers ask.
Can I find out my HDB valuation before I sell?
Not from HDB. Since March 2014, only a buyer holding your Option to Purchase can request it. You can estimate it closely from recent transactions of flats like yours.
How does HDB decide the valuation?
A licensed valuer from HDB’s panel starts from recent comparable sales, adjusts for location, remaining lease, floor level, size, renovation and orientation, and then considers current market conditions.
How long does an HDB valuation take?
The buyer submits the Request for Value by the next working day after the OTP is granted. HDB typically releases the value within 10 working days.
Who pays for the valuation?
The buyer. The fee is S$120 including GST, and it is non-refundable.
Will HDB tell me, the seller, the valuation?
No. The value goes to the buyer. They can share it with you, but they don’t have to.
What if the valuation is lower than my selling price?
The buyer pays the difference in cash, because CPF and housing loans only count up to the valuation. If they can’t, expect a renegotiation or a withdrawal. If they withdraw, you keep the option fee.
How many buyers pay cash over valuation?
In the latest official figures, from March 2024, about 18% of resale buyers paid any COV, and the median across all buyers was S$0. No newer official figure has been published.
Can HeroHomes check my flat’s value?
Yes. Our agents run an in-house comparison of recent sales for your block, size and floor. If you found us through a TikTok live, message that agent directly. Otherwise, WhatsApp Heikal.
If you’re working out whether your own numbers hold, that’s a different conversation.
Not a listing pitch. A slow chat about where your flat sits in its range, what you’d actually walk away with after the CPF refund, and whether the next place is safe to hold. Numbers over nonsense.
The valuation arrives after you’ve committed. Your number shouldn’t.
Heikal Shafrudin, CEA Reg No. R016820G, PropNex Realty. First published 16 Dec 2020, rewritten 7 Oct 2026. HDB resale figures computed from HDB resale flat prices via data.gov.sg, by registration date, retrieved 6 Oct 2026. Resale price index from HDB’s flash estimate released 1 Oct 2026, as reported by The Straits Times on 1 Oct 2026. Valuation method and fees from HDB’s letter to The Straits Times Forum, 2 Oct 2024, and HDB’s Request for Value terms, checked 6 Oct 2026. COV figures from the Ministry of National Development’s answer in Parliament on 6 Mar 2024, as reported by CNA. Headline images link to the original articles and remain the property of their publishers. Rules can change, so confirm on hdb.gov.sg before you act. Past transaction data describes what has already happened and is not a prediction of future prices. This article is general information, not financial or investment advice, and does not take your personal circumstances into account.