The Record Million Dollar Flat Count Is Hiding A Lease Decay Problem

August 2026 produced a headline every agency wanted to run: a record 201 HDB resale flats crossed the million dollar mark, the first month the count has broken 200. It followed a first half of 2026 that had already seen 902 such sales. Read only the headline and you would assume every million dollar flat sold that month is the same kind of asset. It is not, and the difference matters more than the record itself.

A record headline, and what came before it

The 201 million dollar HDB resale flats recorded in August 2026 beat the previous record of 188 set in June 2026, and followed 902 million dollar transactions across the first half of the year, according to PropNex figures reported by 99.co. Those are real, verified transaction counts, not projections. The record is genuine. What is missing from the headline is any breakdown of what kind of flat is actually crossing the line.

A single count hides very different assets

A million dollar HDB resale sale can be a large, well located five room flat with close to a full lease remaining, or it can be an older executive flat with decades less lease left and a layout HDB has not built since the scheme ended. Both get counted the same way in a headline that only tracks price. The count going up tells you sentiment for big, well located flats is strong. It does not tell you which of those flats will hold that value as the lease runs down.

The quarter hiding inside August's record

Look inside August's 201 sales and the picture splits. Executive flats made up 53 of the 201 million dollar sales, about 26.4 percent of the total, according to TRIBE analysis of the same data. That is more than a quarter of the record month's headline number sitting in a single, older flat type that HDB stopped building years ago.

Same price tag, very different lease runway

The gap is not just in flat type, it is in lease. The median remaining lease on those executive flats ran roughly 26 years shorter than the four room flats sold in the same million dollar set. Put differently, the executive flats carry about 29 percent less lease while offering about 57 percent more floor area than those four room flats. A buyer paying a million dollars for either flat is buying a very different asset, even though the transaction shows up identically in the headline count.

Why the lease difference changes the maths for the next buyer

Remaining lease determines how much CPF the next buyer can use against the flat, the loan tenure a bank will offer, and how the flat is likely to be valued as the lease continues to run down. A shorter lease narrows the pool of future buyers who can finance the purchase the way today's buyer did, which is a real constraint on resale value years from now. None of that shows up in a headline count of million dollar flats. It only shows up when you check the lease on the specific unit.

Check the lease before you check the price

A big five room flat with 90 years left and an executive flat with 65 are not the same bet even when both cross a million dollars in the same month. Before paying a million dollars for the floor area, price the lease, because the next buyer down the line will. Remaining lease and resale transaction history for any specific block are checkable directly on data.gov.sg, and are worth pulling before treating a record million dollar flats headline as a signal about any particular unit.

Frequently asked questions

What set the record in August 2026?

HDB resale recorded 201 million dollar flat transactions in August 2026, the first month to cross 200, beating the previous record of 188 in June 2026, per PropNex figures reported by 99.co. H1 2026 had already logged 902 such sales.

Why did executive flats make up a large share of the record?

Executive flats accounted for 53 of the 201 million dollar sales in August 2026, about 26.4 percent of the total, per TRIBE analysis. Their larger floor area, about 57 percent more than the four room flats in the same set, supports a higher price even with roughly 26 years less remaining lease.

How can I check the remaining lease on a specific flat?

Remaining lease and resale transaction history are published for individual blocks on data.gov.sg. Checking the specific unit's lease, rather than relying on an aggregate million dollar flats count, gives a clearer read on how that flat's value may hold up over time.