Singapore’s public housing model has once again drawn international praise, with a new report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) ranking it the most affordable in the Asia-Pacific region.
In its latest Asia Pacific Home Attainability Index, ULI found that Singapore’s Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats remain significantly more accessible than housing options in nearly all major cities in the region, including Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, and Hong Kong.
The report highlighted that Singapore’s median public housing price is approximately S$554,000 to $627,000). This is a price-to-income ratio of just 4.7. According to ULI, housing is considered “attainable” when this ratio falls below 5, a benchmark Singapore meets comfortably.
By comparison, most major Asia-Pacific cities exceed 8×, with some pushing above 12×, well into the “severely unaffordable” category.
Cities like Hong Kong and Sydney report price-to-income ratios well above 10 or even 15, making homeownership elusive for the average household.
“Singapore stands out as a rare example where large-scale public housing remains genuinely affordable to middle-income households,” said the ULI in its report.
Public Housing as a Cornerstone of Homeownership
Nearly 80% of Singaporeans live in government-built flats developed by the Housing & Development Board (HDB). Even more striking is that over 90% of these households own their homes.
This level of ownership is largely absent in other high-density urban centres.
The success of the system is due to a suite of grants, subsidies, and favorable financing to help first-time buyers access HDB flats.
The CPF Housing Grant, for instance, allows eligible buyers to receive up to SGD $80,000 in housing grants. In addition, public housing loans carry concessionary interest rates and are subject to a Mortgage Servicing Ratio (MSR) cap, limiting monthly repayment burdens to 30% of a household’s income.
While some HDB flats breaching the SGD $1 million mark have sparked anxiety about intergenerational affordability and social equity, observers noted that Singapore’s system is far more robust than its peers.
“In many countries, affordable housing is synonymous with rental and long waiting lists,” said ULI Asia Pacific spokesperson Li Wei. “Singapore offers a model where homeownership is attainable, equitable, and scalable.”
