Selling an HDB flat in 2026 runs on a fixed government track: register an Intent to Sell on the HDB Flat Portal, wait out a 7-day cooling period, grant a buyer an Option to Purchase, then both sides file a resale application. Completion happens about 8 weeks after HDB accepts that application. The selling part is mostly free. The deductions are not. Before any cash lands in your bank, the sale price has to clear your outstanding loan, refund your CPF Ordinary Account (principal plus accrued interest at the OA rate, currently 2.5% per year), pay agent commission plus 9% GST, and cover legal fees. If you are buying a second subsidised flat from HDB next, a resale levy of $15,000 to $50,000 also applies. This guide walks the process in order and shows where every dollar goes.
There is one official sequence and you cannot skip steps. Everything starts and is tracked on the HDB Flat Portal using Singpass. You do not need a property agent to sell, but most people use one.
Here is the full sequence from the first click to keys handed over:
Before anything, confirm your MOP is up. For most flats it is 5 years counted from the date you collected keys, and it must be physical occupation, not just ownership. Periods you rented out the whole flat or stayed overseas do not count. Selling before MOP is not allowed except in specific cases HDB approves directly.
Once MOP is cleared, log in to the HDB Flat Portal with Singpass and register an Intent to Sell. This is free. It runs a preliminary check on whether you can sell, tells you when you may grant an OTP, and prompts you to plan your next home. The Intent to Sell stays valid for 12 months. If you have not transacted within that window, you re-register.
After registering Intent to Sell, you must wait 7 calendar days before you can grant an OTP. This cooling period is fixed. Use it to price the flat and start marketing.
Pricing is between you and the buyer. There is no official asking price. Look at recent transacted prices for your block and flat type on the HDB resale portal rather than asking prices on listing sites, which run higher. When a buyer commits, the bank or HDB values the flat, and that valuation, not your asking price, sets how much CPF and loan the buyer can use. If your selling price is above valuation, the gap is the Cash Over Valuation (COV), which the buyer pays fully in cash.
You can market on your own through listing sites and word of mouth, or appoint a salesperson. With a valid Intent to Sell you also get HDB's Resale Flat Listing service, where you create a listing, appoint agents and manage viewing appointments inside the portal.
When you and a buyer agree on a price, you grant the OTP using HDB's prescribed form, which you download from the portal. The OTP gives that one buyer the exclusive right to buy the flat within the Option Period, and you cannot grant another OTP or accept another offer during that time.
Money is capped and must be in cash. The buyer pays an option fee of between $1 and $1,000, the exact amount agreed between both sides. The Option Period is 21 calendar days. To proceed, the buyer exercises the OTP within those 21 days and pays an exercise fee. The total of option fee plus exercise fee cannot exceed $5,000. So if the option fee was $1,000, the exercise fee is at most $4,000.
If the buyer walks away and does not exercise, you keep the option fee and can re-list. If you back out after granting the OTP, you have to refund the option fee and may owe more depending on the terms.
| Item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Option fee | $1 to $1,000 (cash) | Paid when OTP is granted; mutually agreed |
| Option Period | 21 calendar days | Buyer must exercise within this window |
| Exercise fee | Up to $4,000 (cash) | Paid when buyer exercises the OTP |
| Total deposit cap | $5,000 (cash) | Option fee plus exercise fee combined |
Once the buyer exercises the OTP, both parties submit their own halves of the resale application on the HDB Flat Portal. The buyer can usually submit first, then you submit yours. After both halves are in, both sides endorse the documents, acknowledge the terms, and pay the resale fees.
HDB charges an administrative fee for the resale application: $80 for 3-room and larger flats, and $40 for 1- and 2-room flats. Each party pays its own share. HDB then verifies eligibility, financing and documents.
After HDB accepts the complete application, completion happens about 8 weeks later. At the completion appointment, conducted electronically, the legal transfer takes place: the buyer pays the balance, your outstanding loan is cleared, your CPF refund is made, and the remaining proceeds are released to you. From granting the OTP to keys handed over, budget roughly 2 to 3 months in total.
Most sellers know the headline number, about 8 weeks from HDB accepting the application to completion, but not what happens inside that window. The waiting is not dead time. HDB schedules document endorsement, payment and approval at fixed points, and if you miss a deadline the transaction slips. Here is the order with the real durations attached.
After both halves of the resale application are in and accepted, HDB sends an SMS to endorse the documents on the portal within 6 calendar days, and that prompt arrives roughly 4 weeks after acceptance. Once both sides have endorsed and paid the legal fees, HDB grants approval about 2 weeks later. The completion appointment then falls around the 8-week mark from acceptance. Watch the early deadlines hardest: if the second party does not submit its half of the application within 7 calendar days of the first, the application lapses and you start that step again.
| Milestone | Timing | Who acts |
|---|---|---|
| Register Intent to Sell | Valid 12 months | Seller |
| Cooling period before granting OTP | 7 calendar days after Intent | Fixed |
| Option Period to exercise OTP | 21 calendar days | Buyer |
| Second party submits resale application | Within 7 calendar days of the first | Buyer or seller |
| Endorse documents on the portal | Within 6 days, about 4 weeks after acceptance | Both |
| Pay legal fees online | At endorsement | Both |
| HDB grants approval | About 2 weeks after endorsement and payment | HDB |
| Resale completion appointment | About 8 weeks after HDB accepts the application | Both |
Before the keys change hands, the buyer inspects the flat, and you have to hand it over in the state HDB expects. The standard is vacant possession: the flat empty of your belongings and free of any renovation HDB never approved. This catches sellers who added an illegal partition, removed a structural wall, or did electrical or gas work without a licensed contractor.
If the inspection turns up unauthorised works, you have to put them right and, where HDB asks, arrange a re-inspection with the branch before completion. That can cost real money and push your completion date back, so deal with it before you list rather than in the final fortnight. Clear out, settle outstanding utilities, and make sure anything you altered over the years is either approved or reversed.
Hand over what the contract says you will. If the OTP or your agreement lists fixtures that stay, like built-in wardrobes or aircon units, they must be there and working on completion day. Stripping out items you agreed to leave is a fast way to a dispute at the appointment.
If your next home is not ready on completion day, you can ask the buyer for a Temporary Extension of Stay, which lets you live in the flat for a short period after the sale legally completes. It is a private arrangement between you and the buyer, who now owns the flat, so they have to agree and you should settle the terms, including any payment, in writing before completion.
There is a hard limit. The extension cannot run more than 3 months from the resale completion date, and there is no renewal beyond that. Raise it early, ideally while negotiating the sale, because a buyer who needs to move in immediately will not grant it. If your timing is tight between selling and buying, this is what stops you from needing a rental in between.
An accepted application is not a guaranteed completion. HDB cancels or lets an application lapse for a handful of avoidable reasons, and each one resets you to an earlier step. The most common is the 7-day rule: if the second party does not submit its half of the application within 7 calendar days of the first, the whole application lapses. A missed endorsement window or unpaid legal fees stalls it too.
Eligibility and financing problems also kill applications. If the buyer turns out not to qualify, cannot secure enough loan or CPF, or the declared information is wrong or incomplete, HDB rejects it. As the seller you cannot control the buyer's financing, but you can screen for it: confirm the buyer has a valid HFE letter and, if they are taking a bank loan, a Letter of Offer, before you grant the OTP. That one check avoids most failed sales.
This is where most sellers get a shock. Selling is cheap; the deductions are not. Your sale price is not your take-home. In order, the proceeds clear these before anything reaches your bank account.
First, your outstanding home loan is paid off in full, whether it is an HDB loan or a bank loan. Second, the CPF you used has to go back. Every dollar of CPF Ordinary Account money you put toward the downpayment and monthly instalments must be refunded to your CPF, plus the accrued interest you would have earned had the money stayed in your OA. That accrued interest tracks the OA rate, currently 2.5% per year, computed monthly and compounded annually, and over a long holding period it adds up. This refund goes back into your own CPF, not lost, but it is cash you do not get to spend now.
Then come the selling costs: agent commission plus GST, and legal fees. Whatever is left after the loan, the CPF refund and these costs is your cash proceeds.
Commission is not set by the government; it is negotiable between you and the agent. In practice, traditional agencies have charged around 2% of the sale price for a seller (some up to 3%), while newer agencies and online platforms now advertise 1% or a fixed fee, so a seller's commission in 2026 commonly lands somewhere in the 1% to 2% range. On top of the percentage, you pay 9% GST on the commission if the agency is GST-registered, which most established ones are.
On a $600,000 flat, a 2% commission is $12,000, and 9% GST on that is $1,080, so $13,080 in total. At 1% it would be $6,000 plus $540 GST. Commission is paid out of your proceeds at completion, so model it before you commit to an agent.
Legal fees are separate. You can use HDB's appointed solicitor, which is often the cheaper route, or a private conveyancing firm. As a seller, conveyancing typically runs from a few hundred dollars (HDB's own solicitor for non-bank-loan cases) up to a few thousand at a private firm, so budget roughly $1,800 and up unless you qualify for the lower HDB option. Confirm the quote with your firm before you commit. The buyer pays their own legal and stamp duty costs, not you.
| Cost item | At 2% commission | At 1% commission |
|---|---|---|
| Agent commission | $12,000 | $6,000 |
| GST on commission (9%) | $1,080 | $540 |
| Legal / conveyancing (approx) | $1,800 | $1,800 |
| HDB resale admin fee | $80 | $80 |
| Total selling costs (excl. loan and CPF refund) | $14,960 | $8,420 |
Two charges confuse sellers because they often do not apply. Get clear on both before you assume the worst.
The resale levy is only payable if you bought a subsidised flat before and you intend to buy a second subsidised flat from HDB next, such as a new BTO, a Sale of Balance flat, a resale flat with a CPF housing grant, or an Executive Condominium from a developer. If you are selling and then buying a resale flat without a grant, or going private, there is no resale levy. For first subsidised flats sold on or after 3 March 2006, the levy is a fixed amount by flat type. If your household received only a Half-Housing Grant or Singles Grant, the levy is halved.
Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD) almost never applies to HDB. SSD is charged when you sell residential property within a holding period, which is 4 years under the 2026 rules. Because the HDB MOP is 5 years and you cannot sell before it ends, by the time you can sell on the open market the SSD window has already passed. SSD on HDB only shows up in unusual cases like certain within-family transfers, not a normal resale.
| Flat type sold | Resale levy | If half-grant / singles grant |
|---|---|---|
| 2-room | $15,000 | $7,500 |
| 3-room | $30,000 | $15,000 |
| 4-room | $40,000 | $20,000 |
| 5-room | $45,000 | $22,500 |
| Executive | $50,000 | $25,000 |
Sometimes the sale proceeds, after clearing the outstanding loan, are not enough to fully refund the CPF principal and accrued interest. This is a negative sale. It is more common for flats held a long time, where decades of accrued interest at the OA rate (currently 2.5% per year, compounded annually) can swallow the gain.
The relief: if you sell at market value or higher, you do not need to top up the CPF shortfall in cash. The lower-than-required amount is simply what goes back to CPF, and the shortfall is not chased. You will not pocket much, but you also will not be out of pocket. Use the HDB loan calculator and check your CPF statement for the exact accrued interest figure before listing so the final number does not blindside you.
The practical takeaway: your real cash-out is sale price minus outstanding loan minus CPF refund minus selling costs minus any resale levy if you are rebuying subsidised. Run that math first. A high paper sale price can still leave thin cash once the CPF refund is back in your own account.
From granting the Option to Purchase to keys handed over is usually 2 to 3 months. The OTP gives the buyer 21 calendar days to exercise, then completion happens about 8 weeks after HDB accepts the full resale application. Marketing time before that varies with your price and demand.
No. The whole process runs on the HDB Flat Portal and you can do it yourself, including using HDB's Resale Flat Listing service for free. Most sellers still use an agent for marketing and paperwork, paying around 1% to 2% of the sale price plus 9% GST.
The selling process itself is cheap: an HDB resale admin fee of $80 for 3-room and larger flats ($40 for 1 to 2-room), plus legal fees from about $1,800. The bigger numbers are agent commission plus 9% GST and your CPF refund. The CPF refund is principal plus accrued interest at the OA rate (currently 2.5% per year) going back into your own CPF, not a fee, but it reduces your cash proceeds.
Only if you bought a subsidised flat before and you buy a second subsidised flat from HDB next, such as a BTO, Sale of Balance flat, resale flat with a grant, or an EC from a developer. For first flats sold on or after 3 March 2006 it is fixed by flat type: $15,000 (2-room) up to $50,000 (Executive), halved for half-grant or singles-grant households. No levy if you buy a non-subsidised resale flat or go private.
Every dollar of CPF Ordinary Account money you used for the downpayment and monthly instalments must be refunded, plus accrued interest at the OA rate (currently 2.5% per year, computed monthly and compounded annually). That money goes back into your own CPF account, not into your pocket. Check your CPF statement for the exact accrued interest before you list.
Yes. After you register an Intent to Sell on the HDB Flat Portal, you must wait 7 calendar days before you can grant an Option to Purchase to a buyer. The Intent to Sell itself is valid for 12 months.
Almost never for a normal resale. SSD applies if you sell within the holding period, which is 4 years under the 2026 rules. Since the HDB MOP is 5 years and you cannot sell before it ends, the SSD window has already passed by the time you can sell on the open market. SSD on HDB only arises in unusual cases like some within-family transfers.
That is a negative sale. If you sell at market value or higher, you do not need to top up the shortfall in cash. Whatever can be refunded goes back to CPF and the rest is not chased. It is most common on flats held for a long time, where compounded accrued interest is large.
Yes, if the buyer agrees to a Temporary Extension of Stay. It lets you live in the flat after the sale completes, capped at 3 months from the completion date with no further extension. It is a private arrangement between you and the buyer, who owns the flat by then, so settle the terms and any payment in writing. Raise it while negotiating the sale, not after, because the buyer holds the bargaining power once they own it.
Yes. You must hand over vacant possession: the flat empty of your belongings and free of any unauthorised renovation. If the inspection before completion finds works HDB never approved, such as an illegal partition or unlicensed electrical work, you have to rectify them and may need a re-inspection before the sale can complete. Sort this out before you list so it does not delay your completion date.
The common ones are all about deadlines and the buyer. If the second party does not submit its half of the application within 7 calendar days of the first, the application lapses. Missing the document endorsement window or not paying the legal fees stalls it. HDB also rejects applications when the buyer is ineligible, cannot secure enough loan or CPF, or the declared information is wrong. Screen the buyer's HFE letter and loan offer before you grant the OTP to avoid most of these.
At the completion appointment the legal transfer happens: the buyer pays the balance, your outstanding loan is cleared, your CPF refund is made, and the remaining cash proceeds are released to you. The CPF refund goes back into your own CPF Ordinary Account, not your bank account. Cash proceeds are paid out through your solicitor shortly after completion, so confirm the exact timing and payout method with your conveyancing lawyer.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.