Property Cooling Measures in Singapore Explained: What Applies in 2026 and the Rounds Since 2010
ABSD, SSD, loan limits and HDB's wait-out rules: what each measure does, the settings in force in 2026, the dated rounds since 2010, and what the price indices did around them.
Singapore's property cooling measures in 2026: ABSD of 20% on a citizen's second home, 30% on a third, 5% on a PR's first home, 60% for foreigners (citizen treatment for some FTA nationals) and 65% for entities; SSD of 16%, 12%, 8% or 4% on homes sold within four years of a purchase from 4 July 2025; bank LTV limits of 75%, 45% and 35%; TDSR 55% and MSR 30%; HDB loans up to 75%. HDB removed the 15-month wait-out for private owners buying non-subsidised resale flats on 28 July 2026; the 30-month wait for subsidised flats remains.
Cooling measures are the stamp duties and loan limits the Government uses to temper demand for homes. They change often: the latest rounds lengthened seller's stamp duty in July 2025 and removed HDB's 15-month wait-out in July 2026.
This guide lists what is in force in 2026, sets out the rounds since 2010 as MAS, IRAS and HDB record them, and shows URA's and HDB's price indices around each, as history, not cause.
What are property cooling measures in Singapore?
Rules the Government uses to temper property demand and borrowing: stamp duties on buyers and quick sellers (ABSD, SSD and the top BSD rates), limits on how much banks lend (LTV, TDSR, MSR, loan tenure) and HDB's own rules for flat buyers, such as wait-out periods. MAS sets the loan rules; the stamp duties are tax policy set by the Ministry of Finance.
MAS explains that "Macroprudential policy in Singapore has historically had a significant focus on the private residential property market, given its importance for household balance sheets and banks’ loan portfolios", and lists the current settings, which "includes tax policies set by the Ministry of Finance" (MAS). The levers:
| Lever | What it does | Where the rule lives |
|---|---|---|
| Additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) | An extra stamp duty on a buyer's second and later homes, and on PRs, foreigners and entities | IRAS |
| Seller's stamp duty (SSD) | A stamp duty on homes sold within a few years of purchase | IRAS |
| Buyer's stamp duty (BSD) | The standard stamp duty; its top rates were raised in 2018 and 2023 | IRAS |
| Loan-to-value limit (LTV) | The most a bank may lend as a share of the price, lower for second and third loans | MAS |
| TDSR and MSR | Caps on loan repayments as a share of income: all debts (TDSR) and, for HDB flats and new ECs, property loans (MSR) | MAS |
| HDB rules | HDB loan limits and wait-out periods for private-home owners buying HDB flats | HDB |
Each term is also in our Singapore property glossary.
Cooling measures change what a deal costs, how much you can borrow and, for some buyers, when they can buy.
What property cooling measures are in force in 2026?
ABSD of 20% on a citizen's second home and 30% on a third, 5% on a PR's first home, 60% for foreigners (citizen treatment for some FTA nationals) and 65% for entities; SSD of 16% to 4% on homes sold within four years of a purchase from 4 July 2025; bank LTV of 75%, 45% and 35%; TDSR 55%; MSR 30%; HDB loans up to 75%; and a 30-month wait-out for private owners buying subsidised flats.
The main settings as of September 2026:
| Measure | Setting | Source |
|---|---|---|
| ABSD, Singapore citizens | 0% first home, 20% second, 30% third and later | IRAS |
| ABSD, permanent residents | 5% first home, 30% second, 35% third and later | IRAS |
| ABSD, foreigners and entities | 60% for foreigners, 65% for entities; nationals and PRs of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, and US nationals, get citizen treatment under FTAs | IRAS; IRAS |
| SSD, homes bought on or after 4 July 2025 | 16% if sold within 1 year, 12% within 2, 8% within 3, 4% within 4; none after 4 years | IRAS |
| BSD top rate | 6% on the part of a residential price above $3,000,000 | IRAS |
| Bank LTV | 75% on a first housing loan, 45% on a second, 35% on a third; lower if the loan runs past 30 years (25 for HDB flats) or past age 65 | MAS; MAS |
| TDSR and MSR | 55% of income for all debt repayments; 30% for property loans on HDB flats and new ECs | MAS |
| HDB loan | Up to 75% of the price (for a resale flat, of the lower of the price or value), less if the lease does not cover the youngest buyer to 95; assessed at the higher of the prevailing rate and a 3.0% floor | HDB |
| Wait-out for private-home owners | 30 months after selling before buying a subsidised flat, a new EC or taking an HDB loan; the 15-month wait for non-subsidised resale flats was removed on 28 July 2026 | HDB |
ABSD and BSD are charged on the price or market value, whichever is higher (IRAS). Married couples who buy a second home before selling the first may get ABSD refunded if they sell within the set period; our stamp duty guide covers remissions and refunds.
Rates change on set dates: check which date applies to your purchase before you rely on a rate.
Is there still a 15-month wait for private property owners buying an HDB flat?
No. HDB removed it on 28 July 2026 for private-home owners and ex-owners buying a non-subsidised resale flat without an HDB loan. The 30-month wait still applies before buying a subsidised flat, a new EC or taking an HDB loan, and owners must still sell their private home within six months of completing the resale flat purchase.
HDB, 28 July 2026: "With immediate effect, private residential property owners (PPOs) and ex-PPOs who purchase a non-subsidised HDB resale flat without an HDB housing loan will no longer be subject to a 15-month wait-out period" (HDB). The wait-out "was introduced as part of a series of property cooling measures on 30 September 2022".
What stays:
- "PPOs will be required to dispose of their private residential properties – whether in Singapore or overseas – within six months from the completion of the HDB resale flat purchase."
- For "a subsidised HDB flat", "an Executive Condominium unit from a property developer", or an HDB housing loan, "the existing requirement to wait out a period of 30 months after the disposal of their private residential property remains unchanged" (same release).
What the change means for buyers and the resale market is in our news analysis of the removal.
The 15-month wait is gone; the 30-month wait and the six-month sell-by are not.
How have Singapore's cooling measures changed since 2010?
As MAS, IRAS and HDB record them, there have been 15 tightening rounds and 3 easings since February 2010: SSD from 2010, ABSD from December 2011, TDSR from June 2013, ABSD raised in 2013, 2018, 2021 and 2023, HDB's loan limit cut to 75% in 2024, SSD eased in 2017 and lengthened again in 2025, and HDB's 15-month wait-out from 2022 to 2026.
Each round, with URA's private Property Price Index and HDB's Resale Price Index over the year before and after it:
| Round | Direction | What changed | URA PPI, year before | URA PPI, year after | HDB RPI, year before | HDB RPI, year after |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2010 | Tightening | SSD re-introduced on homes sold within a year; LTV cut from 90% to 80% | +25.1% | +13.7% | +12.1% | +12.8% |
| Aug 2010 | Tightening | SSD extended to three years; lower LTV on second and later loans | +22.8% | +8.5% | +15.5% | +11.6% |
| Jan 2011 | Tightening | SSD raised to 16% and four years; lower LTV again | +17.6% | +5.9% | +14.1% | +10.7% |
| Dec 2011 | Tightening | ABSD introduced: 10% for foreigners and entities, 3% on some PRs' and citizens' later homes | +5.9% | +2.8% | +10.7% | +6.5% |
| Oct 2012 | Tightening | 35-year cap on loan tenure; lower LTV for long loans and non-individual borrowers | +1.2% | +3.9% | +5.7% | +3.5% |
| Jan 2013 | Tightening | ABSD raised and extended to citizens' second homes; lower LTV; MSR on bank loans for HDB flats | +2.8% | +1.1% | +6.5% | -0.6% |
| Jun 2013 | Tightening | TDSR introduced at 60% of income | +4.1% | -2.8% | +6.5% | -5.3% |
| Aug 2013 | Tightening | Bank loans for HDB flats: tenure cut to 30 years, lower LTV for long loans | +3.9% | -3.9% | +3.5% | -6.1% |
| Dec 2013 | Tightening | MSR of 30% for new EC units bought from developers | +1.1% | -4.0% | -0.6% | -6.0% |
| Sep 2016 | Easing | TDSR no longer applied to refinancing an owner-occupied home loan | -3.1% | -0.2% | +0.1% | -1.4% |
| Mar 2017 | Easing | SSD eased to three years and 12%; TDSR relaxed for some equity-withdrawal loans | -2.8% | +5.4% | -0.6% | -1.7% |
| Jul 2018 | Tightening | ABSD raised; LTV cut by 5 points | +9.1% | +1.2% | -1.5% | -0.7% |
| Dec 2021 | Tightening | ABSD raised; TDSR tightened to 55% | +10.6% | +8.6% | +12.7% | +10.4% |
| Sep 2022 | Tightening | Interest-rate floor for TDSR and MSR raised; 15-month wait-out for private owners buying an HDB resale flat | +13.6% | +4.4% | +11.6% | +6.2% |
| Apr 2023 | Tightening | ABSD raised (60% for foreigners, 65% for entities) | +11.4% | +4.9% | +8.8% | +5.8% |
| Aug 2024 | Tightening | HDB loan limit lowered from 80% to 75% | +4.4% | +5.1% | +8.1% | +5.6% |
| Jul 2025 | Tightening | SSD back to four years and 16% | +3.4% | +2.9% | +8.0% | 0.0% |
| Jul 2026 | Easing | 15-month wait-out removed | +2.9% | — | 0.0% | — |
Round months and measures from MAS's history of macroprudential policies, which runs to April 2023 (MAS), then IRAS's SSD table (IRAS) and HDB (HDB; HDB); property rounds only, main changes listed. Index changes: PropKaki analysis of URA's and HDB's quarterly indices, measured from the quarter that holds the month before the round: "year before" is the four quarters to that quarter, "year after" the four quarters from it. "—" means not yet available.
Read the index columns as history, not cause. Interest rates, housing supply, incomes and the economy moved prices in every window as well; the table cannot separate a round's effect from theirs. MAS's own description of the April 2023 round is that ABSD was raised "to pre-emptively manage investment demand" (MAS).
Tightening rounds have usually followed rising prices, so the "year before" columns are mostly positive: that is timing, not effect.
Do cooling measures bring property prices down?
Not in a way the indices can prove. After the 2013 rounds, URA's private index fell 11.6% from 2013Q3 to 2017Q2 and HDB's resale index 12.4% from 2013Q2 to 2019Q2; yet from late 2009 to mid-2026 both indices rose about 85%. Other forces moved prices too.
Two readings of the same record, both true:
- The 2013–2019 decline. After ABSD was raised and TDSR introduced in 2013, URA's private Property Price Index fell from 154.6 (2013Q3) to 136.6 (2017Q2), -11.6%, and HDB's Resale Price Index from 149.4 (2013Q2) to 130.8 (2019Q2), -12.4%.
- The long run. From 2009Q4, the last full quarter before the first round in the table, to 2026Q2, URA's index went from 118.4 to 219.4 (+85%) and HDB's from 109.0 to 202.8 (+86%).
Neither proves what the measures did: the indices move with interest rates, supply and incomes as well. Where prices stand now: HDB's index fell in both quarters of the first half of 2026 (HDB), and URA's private index rose 0.5% in the second quarter (URA). Whether prices will fall next is a forecast PropKaki does not make; the history is in our property bubble and outlook check.
The record shows prices falling after some rounds and rising after others; it cannot show why.
Can a 70-year-old buy an HDB flat?
HDB's eligibility pages set minimum ages, not a maximum: 21 for couples and families, 35 for singles (21 if widowed or orphaned, for a resale flat). What age changes is the financing: one cap on an HDB loan's repayment period is 65 years minus the buyers' average age, so two 70-year-olds would get no HDB loan term under it; a younger co-applicant lowers the average.
The age rules in HDB's eligibility pages are minimums: couples and families must be "At least 21 years old" (HDB), and singles buying on their own at least 35, or 21 for a resale flat if widowed or an orphan (HDB). No upper age limit appears in them.
Age matters for the loan, not the eligibility:
- "The loan amount will depend on the extent the remaining lease can cover the youngest applicant to the age of 95 and above" (HDB).
- The repayment period is "Capped at whichever is the shortest: 25 years; 65 years minus the average age of the applicants; or Remaining lease of the flat minus 20 years" (same page). At an average age of 65 or more, the middle limit leaves no term.
How lease length, age 95 and CPF use fit together is in our 99-year leasehold guide; what you can borrow at any age, in the property financial planner.
At 70 the question is not whether you may buy, but how you will pay.
Will my HDB flat be worth $0 after 99 years?
At the end of the lease the flat goes back to the State: the Government says "After 99 years, the land is returned to the State". That is not a cooling measure; it is how the leasehold system works. What it means for value, upgrading and redevelopment schemes along the way is covered in our 99-year leasehold guide.
This question often comes up alongside cooling measures, but it is about tenure, not policy rounds. The Ministry of National Development's answer in Parliament on 24 September 2025 (MND): "HDB flats are sold with 99-year leases. A leasehold system ensures fairness to future generations. After 99 years, the land is returned to the State, and we can recycle it to build new homes for future generations." The full picture, including the lease buyback and redevelopment schemes, is in our 99-year leasehold guide.
A lease ends by design; plan for it with the lease, not with the market.
The biggest mistake people make with cooling measures
Using today's rates for a purchase made under older ones, or the other way round. SSD depends on when you bought: 12%, 8% or 4% within three years for homes bought from 11 March 2017 to 3 July 2025, and 16% to 4% within four years for homes bought from 4 July 2025. Each rule sets its own date: MAS's loan limits, for one, go by when the option was granted.
IRAS sets SSD by when the home was bought and how long it was held (IRAS):
| Home bought | Sold within 1 year | Within 2 | Within 3 | Within 4 | After that |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Jan 2011 to 10 Mar 2017 | 16% | 12% | 8% | 4% | None |
| 11 Mar 2017 to 3 Jul 2025 | 12% | 8% | 4% | None | None |
| On or after 4 Jul 2025 | 16% | 12% | 8% | 4% | None |
The same logic runs through the other levers: IRAS publishes ABSD "from 16 Dec 2021 to 26 Apr 2023" and "on or after 27 Apr 2023" as separate columns (IRAS), and MAS's LTV table applies "where the OTP is granted on or after 6 July 2018" (MAS). Check the row for your date, and our seller's stamp duty guide for the details of SSD, including which date starts the holding period.
The rule that applies is the one in force on your date, not the one in the news.
Official sources
The MAS, IRAS, HDB, URA and MND pages this guide quotes.
Methodology and sources
Where the rates and index figures come from, and what we have not claimed.
Rules and dates. Current settings from IRAS's ABSD, SSD and BSD pages, MAS's macroprudential policy page and LTV explainer, and HDB's loan page, 20 August 2024 letter and 28 July 2026 release, read between 19 and 26 September 2026. Round months and what changed come from MAS's history tables and timeline (to April 2023), IRAS's SSD table and HDB; the table shows the month the agency dates each change, property rounds only: MAS's 2016 capital-buffer framework is left out, and so are the Budget rises in BSD's top rates on 20 Feb 2018 and 15 Feb 2023. MAS's current-settings table for SSD still shows the pre-July 2025 schedule, so SSD follows IRAS.
PropKaki figures. URA's Property Price Index (all private residential) and HDB's Resale Price Index, quarterly, as held in PropKaki's database to 2026Q2. "Year before" and "year after" are defined under the table. How we work: PropKaki methodology.
What we have not claimed: that any round caused the price changes beside it, where prices will go, or which rate applies to your purchase (check the dates that apply with IRAS, your bank and your lawyer). This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.
Got a question this raised? Ask PropKaki.
Take any point from this analysis and apply it to your own project, budget or decision.
PropKakiFor most buyers this year, staying well within budget beats trying to time the market.