HDB rents by town: what the Q2 2026 round-up tells us

📌 Quick Answer

HDB’s Q2 2026 rental data shows that 4-room rents did not move in the same direction across Singapore. Compared with Q1, median rents rose in 11 towns, fell in five and stayed flat in nine among the 25 towns with published figures. They ranged from $3,000 in Choa Chu Kang and Bukit Panjang to $4,600 in the Central Area. For tenants and landlords, the most relevant comparison is the median for their town and flat type, followed by recent rents for similar flats nearby.

If you’re renting an HDB flat, or thinking about letting one out, the headline that rents are rising or falling may not tell you what you need to know about the market. HDB’s Q2 2026 data shows a genuinely mixed picture, with about a third of towns seeing rents fall or hold flat even as the overall trend points upward. An islandwide trend can still mean very different realities at town level. A tenant renewing a 4-room flat in central Singapore may be facing a rising median, while someone looking to rent in other areas might find rents that have barely moved or even fallen. The useful question is not simply whether HDB rents are rising, but what is happening in your town, for your flat type, and around your block.

According to HDB’s Median Rent by Town and Flat Type dataset, the median monthly rent for a 4-room HDB flat in Q2 2026 ranged from $3,000 in Choa Chu Kang and Bukit Panjang to $4,600 in the Central Area. That is a difference of $1,600 a month, or $19,200 over a year.

Compared with Q1 2026, median 4-room rents rose in 11 towns: Bedok, Bishan, Bukit Batok, Bukit Merah, the Central Area, Geylang, Jurong West, Pasir Ris, Punggol, Sembawang and Tampines. They fell in five towns: Choa Chu Kang, Hougang, Kallang/Whampoa, Marine Parade and Queenstown. Rents stayed flat in Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Panjang, Clementi, Jurong East, Sengkang, Serangoon, Toa Payoh, Woodlands and Yishun. Bukit Timah is excluded because HDB withheld the median after fewer than 20 transactions were recorded.

The pattern isn’t limited to 4-room flats. Rents for units in the same towns tend to move together regardless of the size of the flat, though not always at the same pace. 3-room flats have generally tracked a few hundred dollars below 4-room rents in the same town, while 5-room flats run higher, with Sembawang, Choa Chu Kang and Punggol overtaking Woodlands as the cheapest towns for 5-room rentals over the past year. Executive flats, the largest and least common HDB flat type, have moved somewhat independently, occasionally softening even in quarters when 3- and 4-room rents both rose.

The Central Area’s premium isn’t new. It has topped the rental table for years, driven by genuinely limited supply. Given that relatively few HDB flats exist in the Central Area, you can treat its position at the top of the table as a structural feature of the market rather than something likely to change in the future.

If you’re a tenant comparing your renewal offer against a blanket "rents are rising" headline, an increase may feel unavoidable. Whether the assumption is true, however, depends entirely on your specific location. If you’re in one of the towns where rent held flat or fell, a substantial increase may not be in line with HDB’s data for the area.

The reverse applies if you’re a landlord in a town where rents rose. Checking the median for your town and flat type gives you a useful starting point, but it should be considered alongside recent rents for comparable flats in the same area. That gives both sides a more informed basis for negotiation.

HDB provides a market rental rate checker that shows rents reported for approved applications by block and flat type. You can use it to compare against recently reported rates for your building, which would be more precise than even a town-wide median. It is worth checking before agreeing to a renewal figure or setting an asking rent.

One caveat is that HDB’s figures are based on rents self-declared in renting-out applications. HDB also withholds town and flat-type medians where fewer than 20 transactions were recorded, because the results may not be representative. Even where a median is published, it cannot account for differences in floor level, condition, furnishing or proximity to transport. Treat it as a useful reference, not an exact prediction for a particular flat.

The reported islandwide rent trend is a starting point but it won’t give the full picture. With 4-room rents up in 11 towns, down in five and flat in nine this quarter, the town you’re renting or letting in matters more than the overall direction. Check HDB’s data for your specific town and flat type, and where possible the actual recent transactions for your block.