New, smaller landed homes draw more HDB and condo upgraders

Factors driving shift to smaller landed units include land prices, tighter rules: Experts

- Joyce Lim Senior Correspondent

Smaller, newly built landed homes are drawing more HDB and condominium upgraders, even as the supply of landed homes has stayed broadly flat for 25 years.

This comes as the number of flats and condominiums has more than tripled over the same period.

Figures from the Singapore Department of Statistics showed landed home supply rose 12 per cent from 67,229 units in 2000 to 75,338 units in 2025.

In contrast, the number of private flats and condos grew by 228 per cent, up from 114,532 units to 375,612 units over the same period.

In Singapore, such “smaller-lot” landed homes are generally houses built on land parcels close to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) minimum plot sizes of about 1,615 sq ft for an intermediate terrace and around 2,150 sq ft for a semidetached home.

Many recent projects fall within the 1,600 sq ft to 3,000 sq ft range, which developers and property agents commonly describe as compact landed units.

The shift towards smaller landed units is driven by changing needs, higher land prices, construction costs and tighter regulations, rather than stagnating supply of landed homes, said property experts.

Younger families prioritise efficient layouts and more manageable overall pricing, while rising land and construction costs have made larger homes harder to sell at accessible price points, they said.

Real estate agency ERA Singapore’s key executive officer Eugene Lim said smaller landed homes offer a more attainable entry point for condominium owners as their overall pricing is easier to manage.

Buyers generally fall into three groups, he said.