ABSD stands for Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty. It is a regulatory tax is applied on top of the baseline Buyer’s Stamp Duty. The ABSD rate depends on the buyer's residency status and the number of residential properties they already own, with rates ranging from 0% up to 60%. It is a primary tool used by the government to manage market demand and ensure long-term stability.

If you are a foreign buyer of Singapore Property, please check our Free Guide.

SSD or Seller's Stamp Duty is a defensive tax framework designed to prevent short-term speculative property flipping. If a residential property is sold within a three-year holding period from the date of acquisition, the seller must pay a tiered tax: 12% in the first year, 8% in the second year, and 4% in the third year.

Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) is a macroprudential framework enforced by MAS to ensure sustainable leverage. The TDSR structural rule caps an individual's total monthly debt repayment obligations—including property loans, car financing, and personal credit lines—at 55% of their verified gross monthly income.

A staggered payment framework, Progressive Payment Scheme (PPS), is available exclusively for uncompleted properties or new launches. Instead of releasing the entire loan upfront, capital is paid out in stages tied directly to verified physical construction milestones, significantly lowering early holding costs for investors.

Temporary Occupation Permit or TOP is a regulatory certificate issued by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) when a development is completed and deemed safe for inhabitation. For investors, the TOP marks a key operational milestone: it allows the immediate generation of rental income and starts the countdown for the three-year SSD holding period.

Urban Redevelopment Authority is Singapore's national land-use planning authority. For data-led investors, the URA is the primary source of truth, managing the official public property transaction caveat database. This database provides unedited, verified data on historical transaction values and price per square foot (psf) metrics.

The official public tender process through which the state releases state land parcels to private developers for development is called Government Land Sales (GLS). Tracking the winning bids in GLS exercises allows analytical investors to estimate a developer's underlying breakeven cost before a project launches.

En Block is the official public tender process through which the state releases state land parcels to private developers for development. Tracking the winning bids in GLS exercises allows analytical investors to estimate a developer's underlying breakeven cost before a project launches.

Read insights on our recent blog about Loyang Valley En Bloc.

A property title that grants perpetual land ownership without any expiry date has a Freehold Tenure. Freehold assets typically command a 15% to 25% price premium over leasehold properties in similar locations, making them highly sought after for multi-generational wealth preservation, particularly in prime Districts 9, 10, and 11.

Leasehold Tenure is a land tenure granted for a fixed duration, most commonly 99 years or 999 years. While leasehold properties often provide higher initial rental yields due to lower entry costs, assets with fewer than 75 years of remaining lease face stricter domestic mortgage financing criteria and future resale limitations.

Decoupling is a legal transaction strategy where one co-owner transfers their share of a property to the other owner. This removes them from the property title, freeing them up to purchase a subsequent residential property as a first-time buyer, thereby avoiding higher ABSD brackets.

The standard comparative metric used in Singapore real estate to evaluate property pricing is Price Per Square Foot (PSF). Breaking property valuations down to a precise dollar-per-square-foot metric allows investors to accurately compare values across different unit sizes, ages, and geographical subzones.

Head to our Property Finder to search Singapore Investment Property using PSF filters.

Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) is a major mass transit rail network running from northern Singapore through premium central nodes like Orchard and Marina Bay, before extending down the East Coast. Properties located near TEL transit stations generally benefit from improved defensive asset capital preservation and high rental demand.

Currently under construction, Singapore’s eighth Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line is the Cross Island Line (CRL). Once fully operational, this high-capacity line will link major economic and residential hubs across Changi, Pasir Ris, Ang Mo Kio, Clementi, and the upcoming Turf City master plan zone, opening up new capital growth opportunities.