Is it a good time to buy a resale HDB flat now seeing that prices are at a high?

We received news today that our 3rd attempt at balloting for a BTO flat has been unsuccessful.

We are 1st-time applicants & applied for a 4-room unit in a non-mature area with the MCPS ("live near parents scheme") this time. The previous 2 times, we applied for a 4-room unit in a mature area without using any scheme.

We were given a queue number for the previous 2 times but were never invited down for booking. This time, we did not even get a queue number! This feels like one big joke.

Previously, our plan was to start looking at the resale market if we fail this time as we did not want to keep trying our luck then wait for who knows how long for a BTO flat to be built due to Covid. However, now I am not so sure after browsing 99 dot co & Property Guru.

I am currently unemployed & even after I start working again my partner & I would still each earn less than the median monthly salary of $4.5K. Our budget for a resale flat is $600k (before grant).

We do not require a flat that is fresh out of the MOP but prefer one that is not more than 10-15 years old as we hear of older flats potentially come with lots of problem.

One thing that we would not compromise on is the flat's distance from a MRT station that is not right at the end of a MRT line (i.e. approx. 10mins walk/ 2 bus stops away & no likes of Sengkang/ Punggol/ Tampines). We are also looking for a flat that has at least coffee shops & a supermarket in the area.

We would also prefer not to live in the west. A search on the property websites, with the budget filter & leaving out the west region, leaves us with only choices in the upper end of the NE Line, Khatib & Woodlands. None of the choices on khatib & Woodlands are near a MRT station/ amenities so we actually end up preferring the choices on the NE Line even though they are at the end of SG.

However, is $600K really worth it for a flat in such a non-ideal location? Should we wait to see if resale prices will drop? We are not technically in a rush but I'm in my late 30s & it would be great to be able to move into my own place in the next 2 years or so.

We also don't know if resale prices will start dropping. Yet it just feels stupid to be shelling out so much for a flat that is in a less than ideal location just because it is a sellers market now.

We know there is the option of open booking/ sale of balance but each time there are only very limited number of flats available & most of them are either inaccessible/ have no more quota for our race group.

Am feeling very vexxed & defeated. I think we may be a bit picky but honestly do not think we are being unreasonable/ unrealistic.

Hopefully we would be able to get some advice from this helpful community.