Singapore Property Cooling Measures: The Timeline

Singapore's property cooling measures are cumulative. Each round layered a new constraint on the last, and most remain in force, so a purchase today is priced by decisions taken across thirteen years rather than by the most recent announcement.

The one exception arrived in 2026, when the 15-month wait-out period was removed. That is the first significant loosening in the current cycle.

What applies to a purchase today

Measure	Current setting	Set on
ABSD, Singapore Citizens	0% / 20% / 30%	27 April 2023
ABSD, Permanent Residents	5% / 30% / 35%	27 April 2023
ABSD, foreigners	60%	27 April 2023
ABSD, entities and trusts	65%	27 April 2023
TDSR	55%	16 December 2021
MSR	30%	Unchanged
LTV, HDB loan	75%	20 August 2024
Stress-test rate, bank loans	Higher of 4% or the post-preferential rate	30 September 2022
Seller's Stamp Duty	16% / 12% / 8% / 4% over four years	4 July 2025
15-month wait-out	Removed	28 July 2026

Our ABSD guide sets out how the rates are applied, and the TDSR and MSR guide covers the ratio tests and the stress rate.

The rounds, in order

2013. The Total Debt Servicing Ratio was introduced at 60%, establishing the framework that still governs how much a household can borrow against income.

11 March 2017. The Seller's Stamp Duty schedule was revised to three years at 12%, 8% and 4%. That schedule still applies to property bought before 4 July 2025.

6 July 2018. ABSD rates were raised and loan-to-value limits for bank housing loans were tightened by five percentage points, applying where the Option to Purchase was granted on or after that date. Prices had risen 9.1% over the preceding year.

16 December 2021. ABSD rates rose by five to fifteen percentage points except for first purchases by citizens and PRs, the TDSR threshold tightened from 60% to 55%, and the LTV limit for HDB loans fell from 90% to 85%.

30 September 2022. The medium-term rate used to assess bank housing loans rose to the higher of 4% or the post-preferential rate, with a 3% floor for HDB loan assessment. The HDB LTV limit fell from 85% to 80%, and the 15-month wait-out period was introduced.

27 April 2023. ABSD rose to the rates still in force, including 60% for foreigners and 65% for entities.

20 August 2024. The HDB LTV limit fell from 80% to 75%, alongside an increase in the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant to $120,000 for families and $60,000 for singles.

4 July 2025. The SSD holding period extended from three years to four, with rates of 16%, 12%, 8% and 4%.

28 July 2026. The 15-month wait-out period was removed.

The pattern behind the sequence

Two distinct instruments are at work. Stamp duties price demand: they make a purchase more expensive without changing what a household can borrow. Lending rules cap capacity: TDSR, MSR, LTV and the stress rate limit the loan regardless of willingness to pay.

The early rounds leaned on duties. From late 2021 the emphasis shifted towards lending limits and the stress rate, which bind hardest on households buying at the edge of affordability rather than on cash-rich buyers.

The HDB LTV limit moved three times in under three years, from 90% to 85% to 80% to 75%. For flat buyers using an HDB loan, that sequence raised the required downpayment from 10% to 25% of the purchase price, which is the largest single change in what a first-time buyer needs in hand.

What the 2026 removal signals

The wait-out period was lifted after HDB resale price growth slowed from 10.4% in 2022 to 2.9% in 2025, with the Resale Price Index falling in both the first and second quarters of 2026. Our article on the removal of the 15-month wait-out period covers what changed and what remains.

Nothing else has been unwound. ABSD, TDSR, the stress rate, the LTV limits and the SSD extension all remain. Reading the removal as the start of a broad loosening goes beyond what has been announced.

The measures that would matter most to a broad set of buyers, the ABSD rates and the TDSR threshold, are also the ones that have not moved since 2023 and 2021 respectively.

What this means for a buyer now

Check which vintage of each rule applies to you, because several are set by purchase date rather than by sale date. The SSD schedule is the clearest example: two owners selling on the same day can face different rates.

Budget on the current settings rather than on an expectation of change. Our condo buying costs calculator applies the duties in force, and the affordability calculators apply the current ratio and LTV limits.

Where a purchase only works if a measure is relaxed, it does not work. The 2026 removal followed four years of the measure being in place and came without advance notice.

Sources: MAS, measures to cool the property market, December 2021, MAS, raising ABSD rates and tightening loan-to-value limits, July 2018, MAS and MND and HDB, measures to promote sustainable conditions in the property market, September 2022, MAS, measures for a sustainable property market, April 2023, HDB, measures to cool the HDB resale market, August 2024, MND, removal of the 15-month wait-out period, MAS, macroprudential policies in Singapore.