For many home buyers, proximity to a train station is a big plus point. Build-To-Order (BTO) launches near MRT stations, for instance, tend to attract higher application rates than those farther away.
The Land Transport Authority is expanding the rail network so that by the 2030s, eight in 10 households will be within 10 minutes’ walk of a train station.
But how much this translates to higher flat resale prices depends on which town the flat is located in.
To find out how distance to a train station influences flat prices in the current market, we examined around 24,000 HDB resale transactions across 26 towns in 2025.
We included three-, four- and five-room, as well as executive, flats in our analysis to ensure there were enough data points across towns for clearer patterns to emerge.
Let’s have a closer look.
We grouped HDB flats by their distance to the nearest train station at the time of sale. Overall, the closer the flat is to a station, the higher the price per sq ft (psf).
To get a fuller picture, we grouped the data by individual towns.
Out of 26 towns, 15 followed the expected trend, with flat prices decreasing the farther the flat is from the nearest MRT station, including Bedok, Bukit Merah and Kallang/Whampoa. In these areas, MRT stations serve as key transport nodes near shopping centres and amenities, which can boost nearby flat prices.
The other 11 towns follow different patterns.
For example, in the Central area and Bukit Timah, some flats were sold at higher prices even though they were farther away from the MRT station. These towns are near prestigious schools and that likely outweighed MRT convenience.
In Sengkang, Yishun and Tampines, experts said property prices may be driven by other factors such as flat age and clusters of amenities.
Toa Payoh and Clementi are mature estates with a mix of older flats near MRT stations and newer developments in surrounding areas, which could explain why some newer flats in the mid-distance bands were more desirable and thus commanded higher prices.
These charts, however, do not tell the full story. A closer look at individual towns reveals a more nuanced connection between prices and distance to the nearest train station.
In Jurong West, flats closer to MRT stations tend to command higher prices.
Flats in Jurong West were built around the same time, so proximity to nearby MRT stations, which sit near the town centre and amenities, became a strong factor in holding up resale flat values.
“Even if the flats are older, those nearer to the MRT tend to hold their value better,” said Mr Eugene Lim, key executive officer of ERA Singapore.
A cluster of Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flats located farther away from MRT stations also recorded higher prices as those flats were built by private developers, with designs resembling private condominiums, he added.
The same pattern was seen in Pasir Ris. The darker clusters near the town centre suggest that being within walking distance of the MRT station continued to bolster resale values.
However, there are other factors that influence HDB resale prices. In some towns, they matter more than MRT proximity.
These include a flat’s age, remaining lease, condition and floor level, as well as the estate’s overall attributes.
In Sembawang, the influence of a flat’s age on its price is clear.
Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group, noted that higher-priced flats near Canberra MRT station were typically less than 10 years old, while those near Sembawang MRT station were between 20 and 30 years old.
Meanwhile, Centrale 8, a DBSS project located in Tampines, recorded higher prices than neighbouring flats, likely because its flats come with balconies. Units that come with balconies are rare in newer HDB flats, said Mr Lim.
Mr Lim noted that another cluster of high-priced flats in Tampines – Tampines GreenWeave and Tampines GreenRidges – consists largely of newer developments completed between 2019 and 2021 that recently reached their minimum occupation period in 2024 and 2025. Such flats typically command higher prices due to their longer remaining leases and modern layouts, he added.
The strength of the MRT premium can also depend on how a town is designed. Mr Luqman Hakim, chief data officer of property portal 99.co, said that in estates with multiple MRT stations or extensive bus networks, a larger share of homes may already be within reasonable reach of a rail network.
This reduces the price difference between flats that are slightly nearer or farther away from an MRT station.
Mr Lim of ERA Singapore pointed out that resale prices of comparable flats in an area are an important factor in pricing new flats, alongside factors such as proximity to the city centre, access to amenities like hawker centres, malls and schools, and proximity to employment hubs, as well as the overall desirability of the estate.
In some cases, amenities may be spread across neighbourhood centres rather than concentrated around an MRT station. Buyers might therefore prioritise being near to popular schools, parks, malls or town centres over a train station.
For example, the presence of popular schools in Tampines, such as St Hilda’s Primary School, may support prices there.
And in the newer part of Tampines – Tampines North – more amenities are being built, including supermarkets and food outlets. The area is also close to large retailers like Giant Hypermarket and IKEA.
Tampines North will be served by a new MRT station on the Cross Island Line, which will be completed around 2030. Upcoming developments, such as Parktown Mall, are also expected to further enhance convenience and liveability, said Mr Lim.
“As a result, buyers will be willing to pay a premium for newer flats in Tampines North, even if they are farther from Tampines MRT station and the town centre,” he added.
As a whole, Tampines is a regional centre with multiple malls and offices, as well as a strong internal bus network, so residents are less dependent on living right next to an MRT station, which softens the price gap, said Mr Luqman of 99.co.
The association between price and distance to an MRT holds over time, as a study by 99.co and SRX found.
The study examined 10 years of four-room flat resale transactions from 2015 to 2025, and found that flats within 500m of an MRT station mostly commanded higher psf prices than those that were farther away.
Prices fell sharply past the 500m mark, showing a clear “distance banding” in the market.
Data in this chart includes four-room HDB resale transactions from 2015 to 2025.
Mr Luqman said this pattern has been more pronounced in recent years, underscoring how transport connectivity remains a key driver of demand and resale value.
In that study, the price premium widened notably after 2021, with units up to 200m away from a station gaining roughly $50 psf over flats more than 1km away.
Mr Luqman added that the findings support HDB’s decision to introduce the Standard, Plus and Prime classification framework in October 2024.
Prime and Plus flats typically have more attractive attributes, but come with tighter conditions, such as a longer minimum occupation period and subsidy recovery upon resale. The aim is to ensure that the additional public subsidy supports the aspirations of those who wish to live in their flats for the long term, rather than those who simply wish to sell their flats for a large profit.
“Our analysis showed mostly a clear price premium for homes located closer to MRT stations and, notably, all past Prime BTO projects are within around a 10-minute walk of either an existing or upcoming MRT station,” said Mr Luqman.
“The Prime, Plus and Standard framework is essentially a way for HDB to calibrate subsidies and conditions according to locational advantage.”
ERA Singapore’s Mr Lim noted that the framework also takes into account a broader set of locational attributes and market benchmarks within the same town, such as the resale prices of comparable flats in the area and proximity to employment nodes, and the overall desirability of the estate. These elements collectively influence pricing dynamics and, by extension, the classification of new flats, he said.
Other examples highlight how much distance can matter.
In Kallang/Whampoa, a nine-year-old four-room flat located about 349m from Boon Keng MRT station was sold on Aug 1, 2025, for about $1 million, or $1,040 psf. The unit was located between the first and third storeys.
Another flat of the same size and age, also on a low floor, but more than 1km away from the MRT station, was sold for $755,000, or $754 psf, on the same day.
And on Feb 1, 2025, in Pasir Ris, two 31-year-old four-room flats were sold on the same day at a price difference of about $110 psf.
Both units were located between the first and third storeys. The unit closer to Pasir Ris MRT station fetched $599.41 psf, while the other unit, located 1,407m away, was sold for $489.86 psf.
The distance examined here, however, is not the same as walking distance, which can tell a slightly different story.
In the analysis, distance is measured as a straight line from each flat to the nearest train station, which is the distance typically displayed on property portals such as 99.co.
But this does not reflect the actual route people take. Walking distance is often longer, depending on street layout, crossings and obstacles along the way.
When we analysed the relationship between price psf and walking distance instead, the correlation weakened in several towns. This suggests that straight-line distance – the metric most often shown to buyers – creates a perception of proximity that does not reflect the actual walk.