One-bedroom condos are getting scarcer in new launches and more popular in the resale market. They rent well. The question is who buys yours when it's time to sell.
One-bedroom condos still attract tenants and first-time private buyers, but owners who want to sell face a smaller pool of buyers than owners of family-sized units, according to industry players quoted by The Business Times. Developers are building fewer of them, and three major 2026 launches, Amberwood at Holland, The Serra Residences and Thomson Reserve, have none.
For years, the one-bedroom condo was the go-to first investment: a lower price, easy to rent out, and a way into private property. The market around it has changed. Developers build far fewer, stamp duties have reshaped who buys, and the question owners increasingly ask is not whether they can rent it out, but who will buy it from them.
Yes, much fewer. Amberwood at Holland, The Serra Residences and the 1,268-unit Thomson Reserve offer no one-bedroom units at all. At suburban launches Narra Residences and Tengah Garden Residences, developers planned just three and six one-bedders respectively, and both sold out, according to SRI data.
PropNex used private non-landed homes under 500 sq ft as a proxy for one-bedroom units, since URA's caveat data doesn't record the number of bedrooms. Its figures show the shift clearly:
| Period | New launch sales a year | Resale transactions a year |
|---|---|---|
| 2010–2015 | ~1,808 | ~108 |
| 2016–2020 | 1,157 | 528 |
| 2021–2025 | 521 | 1,023 |
Sub-500 sq ft homes now make up 6.6% of resale transactions this year, up from 0.5% in 2010, but only 2.5% of new sales, down from 12.1%. PropNex CEO Kelvin Fong said one-bedders have become less prominent in new launches while resale activity has grown in both volume and share.
Part of this is regulation. Since January 2019, URA has limited the number of small units in new developments outside the Central Area. The rules were extended to the Central Area in 2023, and floor-area definitions were harmonised the same year. Colliers' Catherine He said the rules make very small units harder to design efficiently.
Mostly buyers looking for a lower price. PropNex data shows the median resale price for homes under 500 sq ft was S$818,000 in 2026, compared with nearly S$1.37 million for new sales of the same size. Between January 2025 and October 2026, buyers with an HDB address made up 43.7% of one-bed resales, compared with 23.2% for units of at least 1,000 sq ft.
Savills' Alan Cheong said resale units can offer investors a higher rental yield than new launches, which carry a developer's price premium, and they start producing income immediately.
Strong. SRI data shows rental transactions for non-landed one-bedroom homes rose 27.9%, from 8,007 in the first half of 2023 to an estimated 10,240 in the first half of 2026. Cheong put gross yields for completed one-bedders at 3.5% to 4.25%. After property tax and maintenance fees, net returns are lower, but he still considers them relatively attractive.
The main threat is co-living. Cheong estimated a city-fringe one-bedder rents for about S$3,500 a month, against S$2,000 to S$2,500 for a co-living room. Colliers' He thinks co-living is more likely to cap rent growth for one-bedders than replace them. NUS professor Sing Tien Foo noted that a self-contained unit offers privacy and stability that shared housing can't fully match.
Demographics help too. Singstat figures cited by PropNex show one-person resident households grew from 146,000 in 2015 to 247,900 in 2025. Cheong expects an ageing population and lower marriage rates to add more.
Because fewer people can use them. Colliers' He said one-bedders face a narrower buyer pool than family-sized units, so the exit depends on pricing. Buyers also have more choice, with about 9,320 units on the 2026 Government Land Sales confirmed lists and a large completion pipeline.
Expressions of interest at launches point the same way. A PropNex analysis of seven major 2026 launches found interest for one-bedroom units came in at 80% of available supply, against 87% for two-bedders and 112% for three-bedders.
Which one-bedders are hardest to sell? Realion's Christine Sun said owners of very small units, below about 350 sq ft, are likely to find it harder than owners of larger studios or one-bedders. Prof Sing said units with inefficient layouts, high maintenance fees, short remaining leases or weak transport access could struggle, and developments with many identical units mean more competition among sellers.
Which ones stay easy to sell? Prof Sing said one-bedders of a practical size, with a separate study or flex space, efficient storage and close to MRT stations, business parks, hospitals or universities, should remain relatively liquid. In his view, the market rewards function and location. Units designed mainly to offer a low entry price risk becoming outdated quickly.
Recent launches show location matters. Newport Residences in the CBD sold 89 of its 108 one-bedders, and Vela Bay in Bayshore sold 21 of its 27. I wrote about why the exit should be part of every purchase decision in this piece on exit liquidity.
If you're keeping your HDB flat or already own a property, a one-bedder may attract ABSD on top of buyer's stamp duty. The stamp duty calculator works out both, so the yield you're counting on reflects your real purchase cost.
Open the stamp duty calculator →I still think one-bedders can be good investments, but they're less forgiving than they used to be. You make the money when you buy, by choosing the right unit, because the pool of buyers when you sell is smaller.
If you're buying one, think like the next buyer. Is it a practical size (Realion flags units under about 350 sq ft as harder to sell), and does it have a study or flex space? Is it a short walk to an MRT station, and near a hospital, university or business park that brings tenants? Is the maintenance fee reasonable? A unit that ticks these boxes will rent well and sell well. One that's only cheap may do neither.
If you own one and want to sell, price against recent one-bed resales in your development and nearby, not against the developer's price for a new one. Present it well, ideally with a tenant who's happy to stay or vacant and staged, and target the buyers most likely to want it: first-time private buyers, singles and HDB upgraders after a lower price.
Thinking of buying a one-bedder as an investment, or planning to sell one? Let's look at what's actually transacting near you.
WhatsApp Bryan → More guides →Sources: The Business Times, 23 October 2026, "Easy to rent out, hard to sell: Buyers could be losing interest in one-bedroom condos" by Jeanne Mah, citing PropNex, SRI, Savills, Colliers, Realion and NUS. PropNex used non-landed private homes under 500 sq ft as a proxy for one-bedroom units. Yields are gross estimates before costs. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
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