Latest news with #sellerStampDuty
CNA
07-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - Longer holding period, higher seller's stamp duty: Why now?
In the latest measure targeting the private property market, sellers of private homes will now have to pay higher seller's stamp duty rates of between 4 and 16 per cent if they sell a residential property less than four years after the date of purchase. Hairianto Diman and Susan Ng talk to Desmond Sim, Group CEO, Edmund Tie & Company, to look at the impact on the property market.
CNA
04-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
Property measures: Sellers have to hold on to private homes for longer, stamp duty rises
Analysts say changes to seller's stamp duties for private home owners will help prevent sharp price increases and spread out demand. Such home owners must now hold on to their property for a minimum of four years, or pay seller's stamp duty. This is up from the previous three-year period. The changes apply to properties purchased from Jul 4. Professor Sing Tien Foo, Provost Chair Professor, Department of Real Estate at NUS Business School, and Desmond Sim, Group CEO at Realion, discuss the new changes to seller's stamp duties for private home owners. They talk about how this may affect the rest of the property market and if the new rules will make a difference.
Malay Mail
04-07-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Singapore tightens private housing rules with new stamp duties to deter speculation
SINGAPORE, July 4 — In a surprise move aimed at cooling the private housing market, Singapore has raised the seller's stamp duty (SSD) and extended the holding period for private residential properties to four years, effective from today. The revised rules apply to all private homes purchased from that date onwards. Sellers who offload their properties within the first year of purchase will now pay a 16 per cent stamp duty, up from the current 12 per cent. Properties sold in the second, third and fourth year will also be subject to progressively lower rates. Previously, the SSD only applied for properties sold within three years. 'In recent years, the number of private residential property transactions with short holding periods has increased sharply,' said Singapore's Ministry of National Development, Ministry of Finance and Monetary Authority of Singapore in a joint statement issued late yesterday. 'In particular, there has been a significant increase in the sub-sale of units that have not been completed.' Analysts told Bloomberg they were taken aback by the timing of the announcement, especially amid signs that price growth is already slowing. 'The latest move came as a surprise to us,' said Citigroup analyst Brandon Lee, citing soft demand in recent launches. He suggested the Singapore government's intent is to target speculative activity, which could pick up as mortgage rates continue to fall. According to preliminary figures released earlier this week, private home prices in Singapore rose 0.5 per cent in the second quarter — the third consecutive quarterly increase — despite sluggish new home sales. Alan Cheong, executive director of research at Savills, said the move seemed 'puzzling'. 'Prices are already flattening so this is likely more based on vibes on the ground,' he reportedly said, adding that he expects new condominium sales to take a further hit. The Singapore government has repeatedly intervened in the housing market over the years to rein in prices, including a major hike in levies for foreign buyers last year and tighter restrictions on the resale of public flats. Housing affordability remains a hot-button issue in Singapore, especially in the wake of May's general election, where cost-of-living concerns loomed large. The new stamp duties will not affect public housing owners, who are already required to live in their flats for a minimum number of years before selling.
