Upgrade to private, an EC, or a bigger home — with the sums done first.

Not necessarily, but you must have met your Minimum Occupation Period before you can sell the flat or hold private property. If you buy the private home first while still owning the flat, Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty is payable upfront; a married Singapore Citizen couple buying jointly can claim it back by selling the flat within six months. We plan the sequence either way, because the cash and the tax both hinge on it.

For a Singapore Citizen, the first residential property attracts none and the second attracts the rate shown above. It is refundable only for a married couple with at least one Singapore Citizen spouse, buying in both names, who sell the first property within six months of the purchase. IRAS does not grant extensions to that window. Single buyers do not qualify, except for the separate concession for single citizens aged 55 and above right-sizing to a lower-value home.

It means transferring one owner’s share of a jointly held property to the other, so the freed owner counts as a first-property buyer on the next purchase and avoids ABSD. It works in some cases, but the transfer itself attracts Buyer’s Stamp Duty on the share moved, carries legal costs, and the remaining owner must service the whole loan alone under the Total Debt Servicing Ratio. It is a calculation, not a default.

Selling first frees your cash, tells you exactly what you can afford, and avoids fronting ABSD — but you may need somewhere to live in between. Buying first is smoother to move, but you front the tax and often need a bridging loan. The right answer depends on your cash position, your loan headroom and your tolerance for moving twice. We cost both before you decide.

Your loan is capped by the Total Debt Servicing Ratio on all your monthly obligations, stress-tested at a floor rate well above what you would actually pay, and by the loan-to-value limit on the property. That limit falls sharply if the tenure is long or the loan runs past your 65th birthday, which usually means a bigger cash and CPF contribution. Approval in principle from a bank is where this starts, not where it ends.

A new EC from a developer has a household income ceiling, and second-timers pay their resale levy on purchase. Note the occupation period carefully: units in projects whose land sale tender closed on or after 8 May 2026 can only be sold on the open market after ten years, rather than the five that applies to earlier projects. An EC is usually cheaper than a comparable condo, but whether it wins depends on your numbers and how long you intend to stay.

If you sell within four years of buying, yes, on a sliding scale by the year you sell — the holding period was extended and the rates raised for properties bought on or after 4 July 2025. HDB flat sellers rarely pay it in practice, because the Minimum Occupation Period is longer than the SSD window. For anyone who bought private recently, this is often the figure that decides whether to upgrade now or wait.

It is short-term financing that covers the gap when you complete a purchase before your sale proceeds and CPF refund arrive. Most packages are interest-only and repaid out of the sale. Whether you need one, and for how long, falls out of the sequence we plan — it is a consequence of buying first, not a separate decision.

Less than the sale price. Your outstanding loan is repaid first, then the CPF you used plus the accrued interest it would have earned returns to your CPF account. What is left in cash, together with the CPF you can use again on the next purchase, is your real deposit. We calculate that figure before you list, because it sets the ceiling on what you can buy.

Only if your next home is a subsidised one — a BTO flat, a Sale of Balance Flats unit, or a new EC from a developer. Buy on the open resale market, or buy private, and no levy is payable. Where it does apply, the amount is fixed by the type of your first subsidised flat, not the home you are moving to.