Remember how spacious your 4-room BTO felt on key collection day? Five years on, there’s a cot in the study, a work desk wedged beside the bed, and a shoe rack colonising the corridor. It’s still the same 90-odd square metres, but somehow, it feels a whole lot smaller.
If you’re wondering whether it’s time to move, it’s worth seeing what your options are. Around 13,480 HDB flats will reach their Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) this year—nearly double last year’s number.
That could mean more homes entering the market, giving buyers more choices. But if you’re selling, it also means more competition.
Which raises an important question: you know what you paid for your flat, but do you know what it could fetch today? More importantly, do you know whether its value is going up or down? That matters if you’re thinking about upgrading.
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Have you outgrown your flat, or do you just want more?
Your home may not suit your stage of life anymore. A second kid on the way, more days working from home, ageing parents moving in—that’s when upgrading starts to feel less like a want and more like a need.
Although, wanting to upgrade and being able to are two different things. Before you start scrolling through property listings, there are three things worth figuring out first:
- What’s your flat worth today?
- What’s happening in your neighbourhood?
- Which agent can you trust?
You could spend hours piecing all this together across property sites, forums and agent conversations. It’s easier to break it down step by step, starting with the question that sets your budget: how much can you actually afford?
How do you budget and plan for your upgrade?
Working out how much you could get from selling your current flat gives you a clearer idea of how much you can put towards your next home.
Not forgetting that you don’t get to pocket all your sale proceeds. You’ll need to settle outstanding home loans, and refund the CPF savings and grants used for the flat, including accrued interest.
Whatever’s left can go towards your next property. Add the estimated quantum to borrow from the bank, and you’ll have a better picture of your total budget.
Then, there are the other costs you’ll need to factor in:
Once you’ve worked out your costs, the next step is to find out what your flat could realistically sell for today.
What will your flat sell for?
Before scrolling through property listings, there’s one number you need to know: what could your current flat realistically sell for?
It determines how much you’ll have left to put towards your next home.
Looking at one past transaction or relying on an agent’s estimate isn’t enough. Property prices can vary, even between nearby blocks. Price too high, and your flat could sit on the market. Price too low, and you could walk away with less than you ought to get.
How do you work out a realistic selling price then?
For a more current estimate, My Property lets you value up to four addresses and track them over time, so you can see where prices are heading. For HDB homes, estimated values come within 0.44% of the actual transacted price in three out of four transactions assessed².
My Property can be the reliable starting point for estimating what your flat could sell for today.
Naturally, the next question is to see how other units are selling in your area. Are buyers keen on what they see?
How's the current property market doing?
What buyers are willing to pay depends on what similar homes nearby are selling for—and that can look quite different from the wider resale market.
The wider market gives you a rough sense of where prices are heading. Over the past two quarters, HDB resale prices have dipped overall, yet a record 491 flats still sold for over $1 million during the same period.
Should you take that as a sign that your flat is worth more, or less? Not necessarily. HDB resale prices cover thousands of flats across different towns, flat types and locations. Your estate could be seeing stronger or weaker demand than the overall trends.
A better gauge is looking at what similar flats in your area have been recently sold for. These transactions will give you a more relevant benchmark when setting your asking price, rather than relying on broad market headlines.
That’s where My Property can help. It surfaces recent nearby sales and live buyer activity, giving you a clearer picture of whether demand in your estate is picking up or cooling off before you commit to a price.
Is now a good time to move up, or is it worth waiting?
Once you know what your flat could sell for and how much demand there is in your area, you can start weighing whether to sell now or wait. But don’t just look at your current flat—think about the home you’re planning to buy, too.
In 2026, the number of flats reaching MOP adds another factor to consider. With thousands of four- and five-room flats becoming eligible for resale, more homes could hit the market around the same time.
That means more choice for buyers, but potentially more competition for sellers. If you’re planning to sell, understanding the competition can help you make a more informed call on timing and pricing.
Here’s what you should be looking for:
- Demand for your flat is rising + prices for your target home are easing = a window worth considering
- The numbers still don’t work = wait another quarter, then check again
The trick is spotting when the numbers start moving in your favour. Keep tabs on what your flat could sell for, what’s happening in your area and where prices are heading for the home you want to buy.
How can you stay on top of market trends?
The good news is you don’t need to stay up checking property listings to stay in the loop. My Property can do the legwork for you, sending notifications when a nearby unit is sold, a new listing appears in your project, or when demand for homes like yours starts to rise. Just remember to turn on your app notifications.
Whenever you’re ready to make a move, connect with an agent through My Property. You’ll be matched with an agent with expertise based on your property type and area.
Final thoughts
You don’t have to be ready to sell today. Start by keeping tabs on your home’s value and what’s happening around you—knowing what your flat could sell for and the transactions within your area. The earlier you start tracking both, the better prepared you’ll be when it’s time to move.
Download the PropertyGuru app, claim your address on My Property, and turn on notifications to start tracking today.
Bonus: stand a chance to win from $88,000 worth of prizes if you claim your address before 20 September 2026.
Know someone eyeing a bigger place? Share this so they check the numbers before falling for a showflat.
This post was written in collaboration with PropertyGuru. While we are financially compensated by them, we nonetheless strive to maintain our editorial integrity and review products with the same objective lens. We are committed to providing the best information in order for you to make personal financial decisions with confidence.
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