District 18: older leases sold for 29% to 32% less by group, 5% to 35% by development

This analysis sits beside the District 18 property market page, which has the full tables for the district.

The group measure: 29% to 32% less

District 18 is nearly all on 99-year leases, so the comparison that matters is between leases that began in different years. Among private homes resold in the 12 months to September 2026, those with leases from before 2000 had a median of $1,023 per square foot, those with leases from 2000 to 2014 a median of $1,469, and those with leases from 2015 a median of $1,751.

Within a size band the difference remains. At 800 to 1,199 sq ft the median for leases before 2000 was 32% below the median for leases from 2000 to 2014, and at 1,200 to 1,599 sq ft it was 29% below. In money, homes of 1,200 to 1,599 sq ft had a median of $1.50M with a lease before 2000 and $1.88M with a lease from 2000 to 2014. Against leases from 2015 the group medians for leases before 2000 were 44% and 47% lower.

These are group medians, and the groups are small. The older group is six developments, and at 800 to 1,199 sq ft, 46 of its 51 resales were in two of them. The figures for leases from 2015 rest on three Tampines developments: of the 65 resales at 800 to 1,199 sq ft, 38 were in one development, and of the 24 at 1,200 to 1,599 sq ft, 21 were in one. The freehold group in the chart is one development, Ris Grandeur, with eight resales.

On Simei streets

Lease era and location overlap in this district: 85 of the 108 private resales with leases before 2000 were on Simei streets. Simei streets also have four private developments with leases from 2000 to 2014, so the two can be compared there.

On Simei streets the median for leases before 2000 was 31% lower at 800 to 1,199 sq ft and 17% lower at 1,200 to 1,599 sq ft. Four older developments are compared with four newer ones, three of which had resales in each size band.

Development by development

The developments in each group differ widely among themselves. At 1,200 to 1,599 sq ft the five older developments had medians from $962 to $1,347 per square foot and the eight newer ones from $1,143 to $1,633.

Set against the middle of the newer developments in the same size band, the five older developments at 1,200 to 1,599 sq ft were 5%, 11%, 14%, 32% and 32% below it. The two at 32% made 27 of the older group's 49 resales in that band, which is why the group median sits near them. At 800 to 1,199 sq ft only two older developments had five resales, and they were 19% and 35% below.

So the answer depends on the development: from 5% to 35% below the middle of the newer developments, against 29% to 32% on the group medians.

Is the gap widening? The group measure

On the group measure the gap has widened. In 2022 the median for leases before 2000 was 21% below the median for leases from 2000 to 2014 at 800 to 1,199 sq ft, and 15% below at 1,200 to 1,599 sq ft. In the first nine months of 2026 it was 33% and 30% below; over the 12 months to September 2026, the period of the first table, it was 32% and 29%.

Is the gap widening? Development by development

The same six developments made up the older group throughout, so each can be followed on its own.

In the five older developments with at least five resales in both periods, the median rose by 18% to 29%, and the middle of the five was 22%. All 18 private developments with leases from 2000 to 2014 had at least five resales in both periods. The middle of their 18 changes was 23%, and half of them lay between 19% and 27%.

Those figures are across all sizes. Within a size band fewer developments have enough resales. At 800 to 1,199 sq ft two older developments rose 14% and 22%, against a middle figure of 25% for 12 newer ones. At 1,200 to 1,599 sq ft two older developments rose 18% and 20%, against 25% for five newer ones. On that evidence the older developments rose 3 to 11 points less. It is thin: three developments, one of them counted in both bands.

Why the group measure moved more

That is much less than the group measure shows, and the difference is which developments' homes were sold. Melville Park had the lowest median of the six older developments in 2022. At 800 to 1,199 sq ft it made 24 of the group's 64 resales in 2022, or 38%, and 21 of 42 in 2026, or 50%. At 1,200 to 1,599 sq ft it went from 25% to 43%. The Tropica, which had the highest median of the six in 2022, went from 14 of the group's 48 resales in that band to 3 of 28. When the lowest-priced development becomes a larger share, the group's median falls behind even if no development does.

Leaving Melville Park out shows the size of the effect. Without it the group gap went from 16% in 2022 to 21% in 2026 at 800 to 1,199 sq ft, and from 10% to 15% at 1,200 to 1,599 sq ft. With it, the gap went from 21% to 33% and from 15% to 30%.

What the records support

In District 18 over these 12 months, private homes with leases from before 2000 sold for less per square foot than those with leases from 2000 to 2014: 29% to 32% less on group medians in the same size band, and from 5% to 35% less development by development. Across all sizes the older developments' medians rose at about the same rate as the newer ones' over four years, 22% against 23% at the middle. Within a size band, the three older developments that can be measured rose 3 to 11 points less. The group measure makes the widening look larger than the developments do.

The records do not show what any one home is worth, and four years is a short period. A development's median also depends on which of its homes happened to sell.

Disclosure

James Wong has sold a home in Stratum, a private development in this district with a lease from 2012. It is among the 18 developments with leases from 2000 to 2014 and is listed on the District 18 page.