Everything You Need to Know About HDB Sale Proceeds

If you sold your HDB flat for $380,000 and got less than that after the sale, you’re not alone. First-time HDB sellers may not know this, but when you put your home on the market and make a sale, you will not receive the full amount of your sale proceeds.

Here’s everything you need to know about HDB sale proceeds

First things first: Do you know the real value of your HDB?

Before you even list your HDB for sale, you can get a free indicative HDB valuation with Homer AI. While this isn’t the official appraisal by HDB, it is a good estimate of how high you can sell your home. And with Homer AI, you’ll get monthly updates on any changes in your HDB valuation. Did I mention it’s free?

Now that you’ve sold your flat, what happens to your sale proceeds?

Once you’ve sold your HDB flat, your sale proceeds (the money you get after the sale) will be divvied up to:

• Pay the outstanding home loan
• Return CPF monies
• Resale levy (if any)

For this article, we’ll be zooming into number two-returning your CPF monies to your account as the rest of the calculation is more straightforward in comparison.

What you need to know about CPF refunds and accrued interest

It’s compulsory to return any CPF funds you have used back to your CPF Ordinary Account (OA), plus the accrued interest-the amount of money it would have earned had it not been used to finance your home purchase. The current CPF-OA interest rate is 2.5% per annum.

Having to pay the accrued interest of your CPF monies, on top of the interest you already pay for your home loan, can lessen the amount of money you’ll get after selling your home (also known as cash proceeds). For some, this could be an essential deciding factor in their next housing plan. So if you’re decided on selling yours, then you should understand the breakdown of the sale proceeds of your flat.

How does CPF affect your sale proceeds?

If you had applied for and received a CPF grant to finance your HDB flat purchase, you need to repay that amount (on top of whatever amount that you have used from your CPF OA), plus accrued interest, when you sell the flat.

What happens if the sale proceeds are not enough to refund your CPF fully?

If you sell your flat at or above the market value, you are not required to top up the shortfall of your CPF refund.

However, if you were to sell the flat below the market value, then you may be required by CPF to top up the difference—even if it means paying out of your pocket.

Go here to check how much you need to refund to your CPF account upon the sale of your flat.

Case Study: How to manually calculate your HDB sale proceeds

Mr and Mrs Lim are selling their HDB flat for $380,000, with the help of an Ohmyhome Super Agent.

Selling Price: $380,000

Outstanding Loan Amount (HDB): $180,000

CPF Refund (Mr Lim): $70,000

CPF Refund (Mrs Lim): $70,000

Resale Levy (if any): NA

Total Cash Proceeds from HDB: $60,000

Legal Fee (HDB): $500*

Ohmyhome Agent Fee (incl. 7% GST): 1% of selling price + GST= $4,066

HDB Admin Fee: $80

Nett Cash Proceeds: $55,354

*HDB legal fee is estimated, and the final amount is subjected to HDB’s calculation.

When do you need to include the HDB resale levy in your calculation?

The HDB resale levy only applies to those who are buying a second subsidised flat from HDB. This can be a BTO, a Balance of Sale flat, or an Executive Condominium (EC). The amount of Resale Levy varies depending on the housing type.

The resale levy needs to be factored into the calculation as it can only be paid in cash or sale proceeds.

No time to do the math? Get AI to calculate your potential cash proceeds for you

With Homer AI, you can get an automatic calculation of your potential cash proceeds, as well as your affordability for your next home. You can access these two calculators for free on Homer AI.

Have a financial plan before selling your HDB flat

Selling your HDB flat to purchase new property is not merely “upgrading”. Not really. There are a lot of long-term factors that could affect your financial situation in the future, which could either make or break your bank, as well as your housing options. From the interests of home loans and grants to the miscellaneous costs and fees, it would be best to work out a thorough financial calculation with a trusted advisor before plunging into anything.

Sell your home fast and at the best price!

Sell your home for a high price in no time, hassle-free. Starting at 1% + GST of selling price. Drop us a message on WhatsApp or chat with us via our Live Chat at the bottom, right-hand corner of the screen.

Our Super Agents are CEA-certified and among the Top 1% in Singapore. With more than 8,000 happy customers served, we’ve garnered 4-star ratings on both Facebook and Google! We go in-depth about what you can expect when you engage an Ohmyhome HDB Seller Agent.