How many years of income does an HDB flat cost?
Official housing prices divided by official household income — the years-of-income reading published as the Propkaki Affordability Index™. Arithmetic from official sources, no verdicts.
As of 2025, the median 4-room HDB resale flat (S$630,000, year-end) cost 4.4 years of the median household's gross employment income (S$12,027 per month, 2025, including employer CPF), and the median resale flat across all types cost 4.3 years, according to the Propkaki Affordability Index™, computed by Propkaki's Singapore Housing Affordability Tracker from official SingStat and HDB figures. The yardstick is gross income, before grants, CPF and interest — most buyers pay less out of pocket.
The reading, year by year
| Year | Median 4-room price (year-end) | Years of gross income — 4-room | Years — all flat types |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | S$436,000 | 3.9 years | 4.1 years |
| 2021 | S$488,888 | 4.3 years | 4.4 years |
| 2022 | S$530,000 | 4.4 years | 4.4 years |
| 2023 | S$560,000 | 4.3 years | 4.3 years |
| 2024 | S$615,000 | 4.5 years | 4.5 years |
| 2025 | S$630,000 | 4.4 years | 4.3 years |
For context, the 4-room reading was 3.7 years in 2017, the earliest matching year, against 4.4 years in 2025.
What this measures — and what it doesn't
The reading is a price-to-income ratio, not a mortgage calculation: year-end median HDB resale price divided by the median household's gross annual employment income (SingStat, including employer CPF), on matching years from 2017. It states what a flat costs in years of income before any help — in practice, CPF housing grants, CPF Ordinary Account savings and mortgage financing all reduce the cash a buyer needs up front, and BTO flats are priced below resale. The tracker reports the arithmetic and leaves judgements about affordability to the reader.
The full year-by-year series, income growth versus the price indices, and charts: the Singapore Housing Affordability Tracker. Methodology: the Propkaki Affordability Index™.