Government to enact the steepest increase among residential cooling measures
Foreigners who want to buy a residential property in Singapore from 27 April onwards must pay an additional buyer’s stamp duty of 60%, up from the previous 30%.
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Meanwhile, Singaporeans buying their second property must pay 20% ABSD, up from 17%. Those buying their third and subsequent properties must pay 30% ABSD, up from 25%.
The 30% rate also applies to PRs buying their second residential property. Meanwhile, PRs buying their third and subsequent residential property must pay a 35% ABSD, up from 30%.
This was done to “promote a sustainable property market and prioritise housing for owner-occupation,” according to the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of National Development, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore in a joint statement.
“Demand from locals purchasing homes for owner-occupation has been especially strong, and there has also been renewed interest from local and foreign investors in our residential property market,” said the authorities.
“If left unchecked, prices could run ahead of economic fundamentals, with the risk of a sustained increase in prices relative to incomes.”
Based on data from 2022, the ABSD rate increase will affect 10% of residential property transactions.
The highest applicable ABSD rate will apply for acquisitions made jointly by two or more parties of different profiles.
The ABSD currently doesn’t affect people buying an HDB flat or EC unit from housing developers with upfront remission, if any of the purchasers is a Singaporean citizen.
The new rates will help moderate investment demand to complement government efforts to increase supply to alleviate the tight housing market for owner-occupation and rental.
“We have increased the supply of private housing on the Confirmed List to 4,100 units for the 1H2023 Government Land Sales (GLS) programme, from 3,500 units for 2H2022. In 2022, we had injected a total of 6,300 units under the Confirmed List,” according to authorities.
“For public housing, we have launched more than 23,000 flats in 2022 and will launch up to 23,000 flats in 2023. We are also prepared to launch up to 100,000 new flats in total between 2021 to 2025. We will continue to maintain a steady pipeline, to cater to growing housing demand.”
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