By Winfred Quek · CEA R073319H · Published 26 October 2026
Facts verified: 26 October 2026 · Sources listed below
Search for what a million dollars buys and you will find tidy tables of square feet by district. They are useful, but most are built from a mix of new sales and resales, and the source behind each is not always the official one. For this page I looked for URA or data.gov.sg figures that I could check and compute myself. The free URA search shows transactions one project or district at a time, and URA points to a REALIS subscription for more detailed statistics, so I could not produce a verified median psf for each of the CCR, RCR and OCR. Rather than guess, I show how to produce your own, and what the official regional context says. For a district view built from third party medians of URA caveat data at higher budgets, see what $1.5M and $2M buy in a condo.
The arithmetic: size equals price divided by psf
A condo's price per square foot is its price divided by its floor area. Flip that around and a budget buys budget divided by psf in square feet. URA reports floor areas in square metres, and one square metre is 10.7639 square feet, so convert before you compare. This grid is pure arithmetic for a $1,000,000 purchase price. It is not market data, and no row is tied to a region.
| Price per sq ft | Size at $1,000,000 |
|---|---|
| $1,200 | about 833 sq ft |
| $1,500 | about 667 sq ft |
| $1,800 | about 556 sq ft |
| $2,100 | about 476 sq ft |
| $2,400 | about 417 sq ft |
| $2,700 | about 370 sq ft |
| $3,000 | about 333 sq ft |
| $3,300 | about 303 sq ft |
Read the grid sideways. The same budget buys roughly twice the space when psf halves. Which row applies to you depends on the project, its age and its tenure, which is what the next section helps you find.
Getting a project's psf from URA
URA's Private Residential Property Transactions search covers transactions with caveats lodged or Options to Purchase issued within the last 60 months. You can search by project or by postal district, with the property type compulsory for district searches, and a maximum of five projects at a time. Two things about the data matter to the arithmetic.
- New sales and resales are different bases. URA says new sale transactions from 25 May 2015 are based on Options to Purchase issued by developers, while resale and sub sale transactions are based on caveats lodged with the Singapore Land Authority.
- Not every deal appears. URA notes that lodging a caveat is not mandatory, so some transacted properties may not have caveats lodged.
A method that works for most buyers:
- Pick three to five projects you would actually consider in the region you like.
- Filter to resale or new sale, not both, and to the last 12 months, so you compare like with like.
- Note price, floor area and tenure for each transaction. If the area is shown as a range, use the midpoint and write that down.
- Convert the area to square feet and divide the price by it to get psf.
- Find the price band near $1 million and see what size and age those units are. Then check tenure, because a 99 year lease with 60 years left and a freehold are different assets even at the same price. The leasehold tail discount tool helps you think about that.
Do this for each region you are weighing and you will have a region by region answer that is verified and current, instead of one that is out of date the day it is published.
Source: URA, Private Residential Property Transactions, eservice.ura.gov.sg transaction search, checked 26 October 2026.
What URA says about each region right now
These are URA's published Q3 2026 figures, shown as context. They tell you how each region has moved, not what a million dollars buys, and they carry no forecast.
| Non landed, Q3 2026 | CCR | RCR | OCR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price index change on previous quarter | up 0.3% | unchanged | up 2.3% |
| Rental index change on previous quarter | down 0.3% | up 1.5% | up 3.1% |
| Vacancy rate of completed private homes, end of quarter | 8.4% | 7.4% | 6.5% |
| Vacancy rate, end of previous quarter | 8.3% | 6.1% | 5.6% |
Across all private homes, URA reports prices up 1.4% in the third quarter of 2026, after a 0.5% rise in the previous quarter. These are index changes, so they say nothing about the level of psf in any region. If you want a framework for the three regions and who each suits, the CCR, RCR and OCR guide covers it.
Source: URA, Release of 3rd Quarter 2026 real estate statistics, 23 October 2026, ura.gov.sg third quarter 2026 release, checked 26 October 2026.
A $1 million budget is not a $1 million price
Stamp duty comes on top of the price. IRAS charges Buyer's Stamp Duty on the higher of price or market value, at 1% on the first $180,000, 2% on the next $180,000 and 3% on the next $640,000 for residential property bought on or after 15 February 2023. On $1,000,000 that is $1,800 plus $3,600 plus $19,200, which is $24,600.
ABSD depends on who you are and what you already own. On a $1,000,000 price, the IRAS rates for purchases on or after 27 April 2023 work out as follows.
| Buyer profile | ABSD rate | ABSD on $1,000,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore Citizen, first residential property | Not applicable | $0 |
| Singapore Citizen, second residential property | 20% | $200,000 |
| Singapore Permanent Resident, first residential property | 5% | $50,000 |
| Singapore Permanent Resident, second residential property | 30% | $300,000 |
| Foreigner, any residential property | 60% | $600,000 |
The practical effect: if your cash and loan together come to $1 million, the price you can pay is lower, and for second property or foreign buyers it is much lower. Use the BSD calculator and the ABSD calculator to work out your own figure, and the affordability tool for the loan side.
Source: IRAS, Buyer's Stamp Duty (BSD), iras.gov.sg BSD, checked 26 October 2026. Source: IRAS, Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD), iras.gov.sg ABSD, checked 26 October 2026. Dollar amounts are my arithmetic on IRAS rates.
Compare three things, not just size
Once you have psf for a few projects, set them side by side on three axes.
- Size. Square feet at your budget, from the grid or your own psf.
- Age. New sales are bought from developers. Resales are bought from existing owners, and the older the building, the more repairs and maintenance you should expect. Look at the maintenance fee too, see common property versus your unit.
- Tenure. Freehold, 999 year and 99 year leases differ, and a 99 year lease with decades gone is different from a new one.
Two units at the same price can differ by hundreds of square feet once you account for all three. A smaller unit near the city may suit a single owner, while a larger one further out may suit a family, but that is your call, and I do not rank them here.
Frequently asked questions
How big a condo can $1 million buy in Singapore?
It depends on the project's price per square foot. At $1,500 psf, $1,000,000 buys about 667 sq ft, and at $2,400 psf about 417 sq ft. URA's free transaction search lets you find the psf for a specific project, and a pure arithmetic grid is on this page.
Does URA publish a free median psf for the CCR, RCR and OCR?
I did not find a free URA table of median psf by region. URA's free search shows project level transactions, and URA points to a REALIS subscription for more detailed statistics, so this page does not quote regional median psf figures.
How much stamp duty is payable on a $1 million condo?
IRAS Buyer's Stamp Duty on $1,000,000 of residential property is $24,600 for purchases on or after 15 February 2023. ABSD is extra for some buyers, for example 20% for a Singapore Citizen buying a second residential property.
Are new sale and resale prices comparable in URA data?
They are recorded on different bases. URA says new sales are based on Options to Purchase issued by developers, and resale and sub sale transactions on caveats lodged with the Singapore Land Authority, so compare like with like.
Want to see what $1 million buys on real transactions?
Share your budget, region and whether you are buying your first or second property, and Winfred will pull project transactions with you, compute psf and size, and add the duties. General information only.
Ask Winfred on WhatsApp Book a free 30 minute callWinfred Quek, CEA R073319H, Crestbrick Pte Ltd (L3010886H). General information as at 26 October 2026, not legal, financial, tax or property advice. Figures are from URA and IRAS pages as at 26 October 2026 and may change. The size grid is arithmetic, not market data. Dollar duties are my arithmetic on IRAS rates. This page makes no price forecast.