Government raises seller stamp duties on residential properties to curb rise in ‘flipping’

The government moved to curb rising speculative buying in Singapore’s residential property market, increasing the seller’s stamp duty (SSD) rates by four percentage points and extending the holding period that SSD applies from three to four years.

These changes will take effect for all residential properties purchased on and after Jul 4, 2025, the Ministry of National Development, Ministry of Finance and Monetary Authority of Singapore said in a statement late Thursday (Jul 3) night.

The authorities said: “The revised SSD will not affect HDB owners due to the minimum occupation period for HDB flats.”

“In recent years, the number of private residential property transactions with short holding periods has increased sharply. In particular, there has been a significant increase in the sub-sale of units that have not been completed.”

The Business Times had earlier reported in March 2024 that sub-sale volume rose for a second year in 2023 to their highest level since 2013, totalling 1,294 transactions. The tally was a 69 per cent jump from the previous year. 

In their statement on Thursday night, the authorities said the government will revert to the pre-2017 SSD holding period of four years.

Following the announcement, SSD for the first year will be raised to 16 per cent, while property buyers who hold properties for more than one and up to two years will pay 12 per cent.

Those holding properties for more than two years and up to three years will pay 8 per cent.

Buyers who hold properties for more than three years and up to four years will pay 4 per cent. No SSD is payable after four years.

Under the previous rate schedule which took effect from Mar 11, 2017, those selling new units within a year of purchase were subject to the highest SSD rate of 12 per cent.

The rate tapered to 8 per cent for units held for more than one year and up to two years, and 4 per cent for those held for more than two years and up to three years. No SSD was payable after more than three years.

SSD was first introduced in 1996, to curb rampant speculative buying in the market. At the time, one in five transactions involved a sub-sale deal.

SSD was subsequently rolled back, then reintroduced in 2010. The amount payable was calculated based on the price or market value of the property, whichever is higher. For instance, those holding the property for up to one year paid 1 per cent on the first S$180,000, 2 per cent on the next S$180,000 and 3 per cent on the remainder.

Between Aug 30, 2010, and Jan 13, 2011, the SSD applied to all properties held for up to three years which were resold on the open market. From Jan 14, 2011, to Mar 10, 2017, the period was extended to four years and new rates were applied.

In 2017, this period was reduced from four to three years, and the SSD rates were also reduced by four percentage points for each tier of the holding period.

While the volume of sub-sale transactions – where buyers can “flip” a new unit before the project is completed – is far from the peak of 2007 when almost 5,000 units were transacted in the year, such transactions have been creeping up and the majority of transactions remained highly profitable.

Sellers earned a median gross gain of S$257,000 in 2025, data from local property portal Mogul.sg showed in May.

Caveat data from URA Realis showed there were 292 sub-sale transactions in the first quarter of 2025 – down 26 per cent from a recent peak of 393 units in the fourth quarter of 2023. The past year also saw a gradual decline in sub-sale volumes since Q4 2023.

Still, quarterly numbers are well above levels seen during the pandemic years of 2019 to 2021, when the new launch pipeline dried up and sub-sales averaged just 82 units per quarter.

Data compiled by ListSIR showed that post-pandemic, the volume of sub-sales jumped, from 765 deals out of 21,890 private residential sales in 2022; to 1,294 units out of 19,044 in 2023; to 1,428 units out of 21,950 in 2024.

Flash estimates for the second quarter of 2025 released on Jul 1 showed private home prices flattening further, with the private residential property price index up by 0.5 per cent in Q2, following a 0.8 per cent increase in Q1 and a 2.3 per cent jump in the last quarter of 2024.

Transaction volume totalled 4,340 units in Q2, down 40 per cent compared to 7,261 units in Q1 and slightly under the 4,915 units sold in the year-ago period.

Source: The Business Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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