Freehold vs Leasehold: What the Data Actually Shows
Every buyer asks this. Instead of the usual rule of thumb, here's what 105,795 real URA condo transactions (2021–2026) actually show about price movement by tenure.
Price Growth, 2021–2026
Average PSF by year, islandwide, using all new-sale, resale and subsale transactions together.
Freehold (incl. 999-yr)Leasehold (99-yr)
Freehold total change
+15.7%
3.0%/yr CAGR · 28,304 transactions
Leasehold total change
+32.3%
5.8%/yr CAGR · 76,770 transactions
Total transactions
105,795
All transaction types blended.
By Region
CAGR isn't uniform — it depends heavily on where. Bar length = appreciation rate within each region (not comparable across regions).
RCR is the one segment where freehold actually out-grew leasehold. CCR shows the widest gap — freehold there barely moved.
Liquidity — Which Sells More Easily
Share of all condo transactions, 2021–2026. A bigger share means more buyers and sellers active in that pool — relevant if exit flexibility matters to you.
Trying to decide for your own situation?
The right answer depends on your holding period, budget, and the specific district you're looking at — not just this islandwide average. Send me what you're considering and I'll walk through the real comps with you.
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Source: URA private residential transaction data (105,795 condo transactions, Apartment + Condominium property types, 2021–2026), fetched via URA's official API and stored in our own database. Freehold bucket includes Freehold and 999-year leasehold. Region mapping (CCR/RCR/OCR) follows URA's official district classification. CAGR computed only for years with at least 30 transactions (15 for regional splits) in that bucket. Data window is capped at ~5.5 years because URA's transaction API itself only exposes a rolling recent window — not a limitation of our fetching. Last built 19 Sep 2026.
