New rules for P1 registration could widen home search for parents eyeing popular schools

It could reduce the incentive for some families to pay a premium to live within the immediate 1km or 2km radius for registration purposes, she added.

The 12 schools are: Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) (Junior); ACS Primary; CHIJ (Katong) Primary; Methodist Girls’ School (Primary); Nanyang Primary School; Ngee Ann Primary School; Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School; Raffles Girls’ Primary School; Singapore Chinese Girls’ Primary School; St Margaret’s School (Primary); Tanjong Katong Primary School; and Tao Nan School.

Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at real estate agency Huttons Asia, said the new system could widen the geographical area for those looking to buy a home.

“The demand for homes near popular schools will remain but it will widen to a bigger radius,” he said. “The ideal distance may be between 3km and 4km, which translates to a travelling time of 10 to 15 minutes.”

Lee identified several HDB towns about 2km to 4km from the 12 schools that could become practical housing alternatives.

For ACS (Junior), these include Toa Payoh, Kallang/Whampoa and Bukit Merah, while families eyeing Nanyang Primary School could look at Queenstown, said Lee.

The four popular schools in the east could potentially draw families living in Bedok and Marine Parade.

But Wong noted that once an applicant lives beyond 2km of one of the 12 schools, the home location does not provide an advantage under the new track.

“We would not describe any particular HDB town as a direct beneficiary of this change,” said Wong.

Still, the change could give families a wider range of housing options, depending on how far they are prepared to live from one of the 12 schools.

“HDB flats could remain the more economical choice, as their median prices are notably lower than those of comparable-sized condominium units in the same area,” said Lim.

For example, the median resale price of a condominium of between 900 sq ft and 1,000 sq ft in Marine Parade is $2.13 million, compared with the median resale price of a four-room HDB flat at $632,500 in 2026, ERA data showed.

In Bedok, it was $1.43 million for a resale condo, compared with $600,000 for a resale four-room flat. For Toa Payoh, the median resale price of a four-room HDB flat is half the price of a resale condo between 900 sq ft and 1,000 sq ft.

These are townwide medians, and do not represent the prices of flats at specific distances from the 12 schools.

A Realion Research study of resale condominiums found some condos near popular schools saw a higher price increment compared with their district average. This means their prices appreciated more than their counterparts in the vicinity, said Sun.

For example, prices of units within 1km of Nanyang Primary School rose 18.2 per cent between the first half of 2022 and the first half of 2026, compared with a 12.4 per cent rise for the wider District 10 (Tanglin, Holland, and Bukit Timah).

The fastest growth was observed for resale condos near Rosyth School, which grew 46.8 per cent. Prices of resale condos near Nan Chiau Primary School, Maris Stella High School and Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School grew by over 30 per cent.

Only one of these schools – Pei Hwa Presbyterian – is in the list of 12.

Looking ahead, Sun said new growth areas with many new Build-To-Order flats could also benefit from the Phase 2C changes.

For instance, families in Mount Pleasant could consider schools such as Raffles Girls’ Primary and Singapore Chinese Girls’ Primary. Those in Bayshore could apply for Tao Nan School, said Sun.