Just two months into 2026, Singapore has already set a new benchmark for HDB resale prices. In early February, a 5-room loft at Block 92 Dawson Road was sold for $1.7 million, officially becoming the highest transacted HDB flat in the country to date.

The latest national record was set by a 5-room Premium Apartment Loft at SkyTerrace @ Dawson. The $1.7 million unit sits on a mid-floor between the 19th and 21st storeys and measures 1,313 sqft. That works out to about $1,294 psf, a figure once reserved for prime private developments rather than public housing.

While there were reports of a $1.73 million transaction at Margaret Drive in June 2025, the deal is not reflected in HDB's publicly available records. The Dawson Road transaction, however, is reflected in the database, making it the official highest recorded HDB resale price to date.

This is not the first time SkyTerrace @ Dawson has pushed boundaries. In June 2025, another 5-room loft was sold for $1.66 million, or around $1,263 psf. That deal briefly held the national record before being overtaken just months later.

As it stands, the development now holds both the first and second most expensive HDB transactions in Singapore. When the project was first launched as a BTO exercise in December 2009, 5-room flats here were priced at roughly $532,000. In less than two decades, values have nearly quadrupled.

The lease for SkyTerrace @ Dawson commenced in 2016, leaving about 89 years remaining. For buyers concerned about lease decay, that still offers a long runway compared to many resale options in older parts of Queenstown.

What's around SkyTerrace @ Dawson?

Connectivity plays a major role in the project's appeal. Residents can reach Queenstown MRT station in about 8 minutes on foot via the Park Connector. By car, key employment nodes such as Mapletree Business City, Mediapolis, and the CBD are a short drive away, which keeps commuting times manageable.

For daily needs, Dawson Place sits just a few minutes away and provides basic retail and supermarket options. The next-door SkyParc @ Dawson features a two-storey hawker centre with around 40 stalls, giving residents convenient access to affordable dining.

A slightly longer stroll along the Park Connector brings you to Zion Riverside Food Centre and Great World City, which have undergone significant upgrades in recent years. About 14 minutes away on foot, Anchorpoint Shopping Centre offers outlet shopping and additional F&B choices.

Families are also well supported. Within 500 metres, there are several preschools and childcare centres, including E-Bridge Pre-School, My First Skool, MindChamps Preschool @ Tanglin, PCF Sparkletots and Queenstown Good Shepherd Kindergarten.

For primary education, Queenstown Primary School falls within the 1km radius. Queenstown Secondary School is also within walking distance.

Between 1km and 2km, parents can also consider:

• Alexandra Primary School

• Blangah Rise Primary School

• Gan Eng Seng Primary School

• New Town Primary School

• Zhangde Primary School

For greenery, residents can enjoy the Dawson Community Eco-Corridor, a 200-metre landscaped stretch that links different parts of the estate and adds breathing space within a dense urban setting. Combined with its central location and rare layout offerings, it becomes clearer why buyers are willing to pay a premium here.

Premium Apartment Loft - A rare type you don't often see

Premium Apartment Loft is a niche HDB format that exists in only a small number of projects islandwide. Unlike the typical single-level layout, these loft units come with double-volume ceilings and an upper deck, giving them a spatial quality you rarely associate with public housing.

Across Singapore, loft-style HDBs are already uncommon. Even in towns like Punggol, recent transactions have pushed past $1.4 million. To find one in mature, city-fringe Queenstown makes it even more exceptional. It's no surprise that this type of flat is now the most expensive in Singapore.

On paper, the HDB loft unit spans 1,313 sqft. But that figure includes the double-height void and air-con ledges, so the liveable footprint functions more like a standard 5-room layout on the main level. What truly differentiates it is the added vertical volume and loft platform, which create a sense of openness most HDB flats simply don't offer.

After all, loft buyers aren't just paying for square footage at SkyTerrace @ Dawson. They're getting dramatic ceiling height, an actual yard area - something even many private condos compromise on - and elevated views that stretch towards landed enclaves or the city skyline.

Why are buyers paying top dollar for this Queenstown HDB flat?

At this price range, buyers were unlikely to benchmark these lofts against typical resale flats in other towns. The real comparison was probably within Queenstown itself, and more specifically, what $1.6 million to $2 million buys in this city-fringe enclave.

Recent headline-grabbing transactions in Queenstown show that seven-figure deals are no longer isolated incidents. A 45th-floor flat along Margaret Drive reportedly crossed $1.7 million, though unofficially. A unit at Dover Crescent changed hands at $1.55 million, while an old executive maisonette at Mei Ling Street hit $1.51 million. Along Dawson Road itself, even smaller units on lower floors have steadily breached $1.4 million.

In that context, a rare loft spanning 1,313 sqft transacting at $1.7 million does not look like a wild outlier. It fits into a broader trend of buyers placing a premium on high-floor, well-located flats with distinctive attributes.

The more telling comparison is with nearby private condos.

• At Alex Residences, around $2.15 million typically buys about 956 sqft.

• At Commonwealth Towers, roughly $2.33 million gets you 997 sqft.

• At Echelon, about $2.34 million secures 1,117 sqft.

• At Ascentia Sky, prices can reach $2.88 million for 1,475 sqft.

Even if you drill down to more compact private condo units, at Queens Peak, for instance, 3-bedroom units here may start around $1.75 million. But these tend to be tighter layouts, often without proper yard space, something many HDB designs still provide as a standard feature.

So the real question becomes this: is it worth paying a few hundred thousand more for condo facilities and private status, or does the HDB loft already tick the right boxes? For buyers who prioritise space, layout efficiency, and location over pools and gyms, the HDB option may actually make stronger sense on a value-per-dollar basis.

As for schools, they were probably not the main driver for SkyTerrace @ Dawson. There is only one primary school within a 1km radius, and it is not typically seen as a major enrolment draw. The purchase appears less about school proximity and more about securing a rare flat type in a mature estate where supply is tightly held.

Updated list: Most expensive HDB flats in Singapore

Before the June 2025 and February 2026 transactions, another loft unit in the same block within SkyTerrace @ Dawson was sold for $1.418 million back in 2022, and that was on a higher floor. The climb to $1.7 million today reflects more than just broader resale price growth. It also highlights how limited these loft units are.

HDB has not introduced new loft formats in recent launches, and the existing supply is confined to only a handful of developments across the island. When availability is fixed, and buyers compete for a rare configuration in a prime location, prices naturally adjust upward.

A similar pattern can be seen with Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flats, which also dominate the top tier of the HDB resale market. Built between 2005 and 2011 under a short-lived scheme, only 13 DBSS projects were ever completed, which means supply is permanently capped.

Projects like Natura Loft and The Peak @ Toa Payoh were developed by private developers rather than HDB directly. They do not offer condo-style facilities such as swimming pools or clubhouses, but they were built with more premium finishes, higher ceilings and more distinctive architectural detailing compared to typical HDB flats of the same period. That positioning has helped them command outsized resale prices over the years.

At this level of the market, traditional HDB yardsticks start to matter less. Buyers are no longer fixated solely on age, proximity to schools, or even shaving a few minutes off the walk to the MRT. Instead, rarity, design differentiation and the overall lifestyle proposition tend to carry more weight. When supply is limited and the product feels fundamentally different from the mass market, pricing follows a different logic.