EdgeProp published an analysis on 3 September arguing that larger homes are gaining appeal among multigenerational families, and that Tampines, the country's first regional centre, is where the case is clearest. The demographics behind it are not in dispute: residents aged 65 and above were 21% of the population in 2025 against 10% in 2010; more adult children stay in their parents' home longer; and the elderly living with their children rose from about 227,000 to 392,000 over the same fifteen years. Its private-market evidence is that four- and five-bedroom condo units went from 8% to 18% of new-sale transactions between 2016 and 2025, and that five-bedders in the east appreciated at 7.8% a year over 2021 to 2025 against 5.2% islandwide.
That is the private side. Most multigenerational households in Tampines live in HDB flats, so we ran the same question through Roov's own resale records for the town, over the last twelve months.
What the flats say
The 5-room flat is where the story is true. 515 Tampines 5-room flats changed hands in the last twelve months at a median of $813,000 and $607 psf, against an islandwide 5-room median of $740,000. The twelve-month psf trend for the type is rising sharply, faster than the town's 4-room flats, which are up about 4% a year. A family that needs three bedrooms and can find a well-kept 5-room in a good block is buying into the type with the strongest demand in the town.
The executive flat is where the story is weaker than the headline. 154 executives sold, at a median of $980,000 and $620 psf, above the islandwide $910,000, but the type's psf trend over the year is flat to slightly down. The buyers who need the largest HDB layout are a small group, the stock is old, and the premium over a 5-room, about $167,000 at the median, buys only some 290 more square feet. The bigger-is-better argument holds up to the 5-room and thins out beyond it.
The share of large flats in Tampines resales, 5-room, executive and the handful of multi-generation units, is 36% of sales in the last twelve months against 35% in the twelve before. Demand for space is real, and it is steady rather than surging.
What it means
If you own a 5-room or executive flat in Tampines and are thinking of selling, the buyer EdgeProp describes exists and is paying above the island for the space. Run what the sale would leave you after the CPF refund before listing, and read when you can sell if the flat is recent. If you are the multigenerational household deciding what to buy, the 5-room is the type with the deepest market; the executive is worth the premium only for the layout itself, not as an investment, and a 3Gen flat, four bedrooms and three bathrooms by design, is the purpose-built answer if you qualify. The HDB resale process and the grants that stack on a resale flat apply as usual, and the affordability calculator will tell you what the larger price does to the loan under the Mortgage Servicing Ratio, which is the limit that binds on an HDB purchase.
Sources: EdgeProp Singapore, "Why larger homes are gaining appeal among multigenerational families in Tampines", 3 September 2026, citing the Department of Statistics and URA. Tampines and islandwide figures are Roov's HDB resale records over the twelve months to August 2026; see Market Analysis for the town by flat type and by storey.