In June 2024, the overall median resale price for Sengkang 4 room HDB flats was S$608,000. Yet in that same month, one 4 room HDB flat transacted at S$480,000 and another at S$850,000. That is a S$370,000 gap under the same market conditions. The median is not wrong, but it is not the full story.
For many buyers, especially first-time buyers, this feels deeply unsettling. If two HDB flats that sound so similar can be priced so far apart at the same time, it raises uncomfortable questions. Is the market irrational? Did someone overpay badly? Or is relying on data pointless because prices seem random?
The short answer is simple: the gap is real, but it is not random. It happens because these two HDB flats sit in different price ranges, even though they share the same flat type label.
To understand why, we need to stop chasing a single “market price” and start thinking in terms of ranges shaped by buyer behaviour.
The Big Mistake
Most buyers begin their search by looking for one number. They search online for “Sengkang 4 room resale price” and hope to find a single figure that tells them what a flat should cost.
This instinct is understandable, but it is also the root of most confusion.
“Sengkang 4 room” is a category, not a market. It groups together flats built in different years, with different remaining lease lengths, different block heights, and different living experiences. Buyers do not treat all of these HDB flats as interchangeable, even if listings describe them in the same way.
When very different flats are combined into one headline median, the result is not clarity. It is distortion.
How Buyers Actually Compare HDB Flats
HDB buyers rarely sit down with spreadsheets or formal models. But their decisions are still structured.
Consciously or not, buyers ask themselves three simple questions:
- How long will this flat last as a home?
- How comfortable will it be to live in day to day?
- How confident do I feel paying this price over many years?
Two factors strongly influence the answers:
how much lease is left, and where the flat sits within its block.
These factors shape buyer confidence, financing comfort, CPF usage, and long-term peace of mind. Over time, they create distinct groups of flats that compete with each other, each with its own price range.
What a “Normal Price Range” Really Means
A price range is not an opinion. It is simply the spread of prices that similar flats actually transact at.
Within any group of comparable HDB flats, you will always see variation. Some sales land at the lower end, many cluster around the middle, and some clear near the top. That spread is normal and healthy.
A transaction is only unusual if it sits outside the range for its own group. A large difference between two flats does not automatically mean one of them is wrong. It may simply mean they belong to different groups with different ranges.
The Lower Range in June 2024
Let’s look first at the flat that sold for S$480,000.
This flat belonged to a more cautious part of the Sengkang 4 room market. It had 60 to 79 years of remaining lease and was located on a low floor within its block. These characteristics matter because buyers tend to discount flats that feel less future-proof or less comfortable.
In June 2024, the key reference numbers for this group were:
- The median price for Sengkang 4 room flats with 60–79 years of remaining lease was S$536,888.
- The median price for low-floor Sengkang 4 room flats was S$585,000.
A median is the middle price. It means that half of the transactions occurred below this number.
This already tells us something important. Flats selling in the low- to mid-S$500,000 range were not unusual for this group. Lower prices existed and were part of the normal spread.
When a flat sold at S$480,000, it did not fall off a cliff. It sat toward the lower end of the expected range for flats with shorter lease comfort and low-floor positioning. Buyers priced in the trade-offs and adjusted what they were willing to pay.
This is what “within the expected range” means. It does not mean the flat was average. It means the price made sense for that type of flat, relative to other similar flats.
The Higher Range in June 2024
Now consider the flat that sold for S$850,000.
This flat belonged to a very different group. It had 80 years or more of remaining lease and sat on a mid to higher floor. To many buyers, this signals a longer usable lifespan, better liveability, and fewer future concerns.
In June 2024, the key reference number here was:
- The median price for Sengkang 4 room flats with 80 years and above of remaining lease was S$754,000.
This tells us that the centre of this group was already operating far above the mid-S$500,000 range. Long-lease flats formed a higher price range altogether.
When a flat sold for S$850,000, it cleared above the median, but that does not mean the buyer overpaid. It means the flat sat near the upper end of a stronger range. This often happens when a flat combines several desirable traits and buyers place a premium on peace of mind and long-term confidence.
Being near the top of a range is not irrational. It is a normal outcome in a competitive segment.
Why the S$370,000 Gap Looks So Shocking
The gap looks shocking only if you assume there is one single Sengkang 4 room price.
In reality, June 2024 had multiple price ranges existing at the same time:
- A lower range centred around the mid-S$500,000s, driven by mid-lease and low-floor flats.
- A higher range centred around the mid-S$700,000s, driven by long-lease flats with stronger buyer confidence.
The S$370,000 difference is not a swing within one range. It is largely the distance between two different ranges.
Once you see this, the fear disappears.
Did Someone Overpay or Get Lucky?
No.
The buyer of the S$480,000 flat did not stumble upon a miracle bargain. They accepted trade-offs and paid a price that reflected those trade-offs.
The buyer of the S$850,000 flat did not behave recklessly. They paid near the top of a range that already existed for flats offering stronger lease comfort and liveability.
Both prices were logical within their own contexts.
What This Means for First-Time HDB Buyers
The most dangerous question you can ask is, “Is this flat cheap or expensive?”
The better question is, “Cheap or expensive compared to which flats?”
Before reacting to a price, look at:
How much remaining lease does the flat have?
Where does it sit within its block?
Which group of buyers would realistically consider it?
Once you identify the right range, prices become far easier to interpret.
A Simple Rule That Will Save You Stress
If you remember only one thing, remember this.
There is no single “Sengkang 4 room price”.
What exists instead are multiple price ranges, because buyers do not compare every 4 room HDB flat in Sengkang as if it is the same home. They react differently depending on how confident they feel about the flat lasting well, how comfortable it will be to live in, and how secure the purchase feels over the long term.
Once you stop chasing one headline number and start thinking in ranges, the resale market becomes much less frightening and far easier to interpret.
That is also why it is absolutely possible for two Sengkang 4 room flats to be S$370,000 apart in the same month. The gap is not a sign of chaos. It is a sign of segmentation.
When you understand how these ranges are formed, and you learn to identify which range a flat truly belongs to, large price differences stop looking irrational. They start looking like two normal outcomes happening in two different parts of the market.
And that insight will guide your decisions far better than any single town median ever will.
Get the Median for Your Flat Profile
If you want a median that truly reflects your flat profile rather than a town-wide figure, contact us with your flat details and we will reply with the closest comparable median range based on our segmentation.