ABSD Changes for Foreigners Buying Residential Property (Updated 2022)

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On 15 Dec 2021, the Singapore government announced that it is raising Additional Buyer Stamp Duty (ABSD) rates and tightening loan-to-value (LTV) limits on residential property purchases, in an effort to cool the property market and keep price increases in line with economic fundamentals.

What does this mean if you are a foreigner planning to buy a new launch property in Singapore?

Changes to Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty

The ABSD will be raised by 10% for foreigners buying any residential property in Singapore and by 15% for entities, said the finance and national development ministries in a joint news release.

 

New laws from Dec 16, 2021 to further slowdown the growth of the property market:

CitizenshipBuying Any Residential Property
Foreigners and non-Individuals30%

Before Dec 16, 2021, the ABSD rates were as follows:

CitizenshipBuying Any Residential Property
Foreigners buying any residential property20%
Entities buying any residential property25%

With these new changes, if you are a foreigner buying a property at $1 million, you will have to pay $300,000 in ABSD. On the other hand, non-individuals will have to pay $350,000 in ABSD.

Source: Unsplash

New laws from 9 May, 2022 with regards to residential properties transferred into a living trust:

Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) of 35% will now apply on any transfer of residential property into a living trust. ABSD will be payable even if there is no identifiable beneficial owner at the time the residential property is transferred into a trust.

So this new change closes a loophole. This ABSD (Trust) is to be paid upfront when the transfer is made.

What is Loan to Value (LTV) limit?

LTV is the housing loan quantum a bank or financial institution is willing to offer as a percentage of the property’s valuation. LTV depends on whether this is your first, second or subsequent mortgage and your loan tenure. There has been no change for foreigners in the Dec 2021 update.

ParticularLTV Limits
No Outstanding Residential Property Loan55% (an absolute limit of 35 years on the tenure of all loans for residential property. This will apply to loans to both individual and non-individual borrowers)
Individuals Obtaining a 2nd Housing Loan45% or 25% (if the tenure exceeds 30 years or the loan period extends beyond the borrower’s retirement age of 65)
Individuals obtaining 3rd or subsequent housing loans35% or 15% if the loan tenure exceeds 30 years or the loan period extends beyond the borrower’s retirement age of 65
Non-individual borrowers15%

These new cooling measures mean that if you are a foreigner planning to buy a property in Singapore, you would have to pay at least 10% more in stamp duties as well.

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While the Information is considered to be true and correct at the date of publication, changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of the Information. The Information may change without notice and Ohmyhome is not in any way liable for the accuracy of any information printed and stored or in any way interpreted and used by a user.

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