ABSD Stamp Duty: Investment vs Own Stay Guide | Homejourney

The quickest way to think about ABSD Stamp Duty Complete: Investment vs Own Stay Guide is this: for your own stay, ABSD is often avoidable or lower, but for investment property, ABSD can add 20%–65% of the price upfront depending on your profile, so you must crunch the numbers carefully before buying.

Homejourney’s goal is to help you make that decision safely and confidently, with transparent information and step-by-step checks before you commit.

How ABSD fits into your bigger property plan

This cluster guide zooms in on the investment vs own stay question and is meant to be read together with the main pillar guide, ABSD Stamp Duty Complete Guide 2025: Homejourney Safe Buyer Handbook ABSD Stamp Duty Complete Guide 2025: Homejourney Safe Buyer Handbook .

Use the pillar for the full technical breakdown of stamp duty rules, and this article when you are deciding whether your next purchase should be treated primarily as a home or an investment asset in 2024–2025’s tighter ABSD environment.

ABSD Singapore 2025: Key rates you must know

Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) is a tax on residential property purchases, on top of Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD). It is charged on the higher of the purchase price or market value of the property.[1][2][3] Rates differ by your residency and how many residential properties you already own.[2][3][4]

Current ABSD rates (from 27 April 2023, still in force in 2025)

Based on IRAS and leading legal references, the main ABSD Singapore rates are:[2][3][4]

Singapore Citizens (SC)
• 1st residential property: 0%
• 2nd residential property: 20%
• 3rd & subsequent: 30%
Singapore Permanent Residents (PR)
• 1st residential property: 5%
• 2nd residential property: 30%
• 3rd & subsequent: 35%
Foreigners (any residential property): 60% ABSD[2][4]
Entities (companies, trusts): 65% ABSD[2][3][5]
Housing developers: 35% + 5% non‑remittable ABSD (with possible remission if conditions are met)[3]

Rates have remained elevated into 2025 as part of ongoing cooling measures intended to manage investment demand.[4][5][6]

Quick example: How ABSD is calculated

Suppose you are a Singapore Citizen buying a second condo at S$1.8 million in Queenstown as an investment:

Property value for stamp duty: S$1.8M (assuming it matches market value)
ABSD rate (SC 2nd property): 20%[2]
ABSD payable: 20% × 1,800,000 = S$360,000

This S$360,000 is on top of BSD (roughly 4–6% marginal rate tiers, see IRAS/MOF tables[2][7]) and must usually be paid within 14 days of the Sale & Purchase agreement being signed in Singapore.[3]

Investment vs own stay: How ABSD changes the equation

For many Homejourney users, the first big question is: “Should my next purchase be an own‑stay upgrade or an investment unit?”

The answer often hinges on ABSD, cash flow, and long‑term plans.

Scenario A: Own‑stay property (minimising or avoiding ABSD)

For most Singapore Citizens, your first residential property for own stay attracts no ABSD (only BSD).[2][3]

If you are upgrading, ABSD exposure depends on whether you still legally “own” your first property when you exercise the Option for the next.

HDB upgraders (e.g. 4‑room in Punggol to a condo in Sengkang)
You can usually avoid ABSD if you sell your HDB before or within the stipulated ABSD remission period when buying a new launch EC or some specific cases, but you must satisfy HDB and IRAS conditions (e.g. disposal timeline, minimum occupation period). Always check the latest rules on HDB and IRAS websites.
Private‑to‑private upgraders
If you buy the new condo (e.g. from a Bishan 3‑bedder to a larger 4‑bedder in Thomson) before selling, you will likely be treated as owning two properties on completion date, triggering ABSD on the second property.
To avoid this, many buyers sequence the sale of their current unit first, or use a carefully timed completion with their lawyer to minimise overlapping ownership.

Scenario B: Pure investment property

For a clean investment purchase (e.g. a 1‑bedder near MRT in Geylang, Potong Pasir, or Queenstown), you almost always fall into the 2nd or 3rd property ABSD bands, unless you buy under a family member who owns no property.

SC investor buying 2nd property: 20% ABSD
SC investor buying 3rd+ property: 30% ABSD
PR investor (already owns one): 30% ABSD
Foreigner: 60% ABSD, even if it’s your first property in Singapore

This ABSD is a sunk cost; it does not reduce your loan principal and is not refundable unless you qualify under specific remission schemes.

Decision framework: When does ABSD still make sense for investment?

Homejourney recommends a structured, safety‑first framework before committing ABSD for an investment unit.

1. Check your profile and ABSD band

List down for each household member:

Citizenship / PR / foreigner status
Number of residential properties legally owned
Whether any property is held in trust or via entities

Then match against the IRAS ABSD table to see which band applies.[2][3][4]

Insider tip: Many families in mature estates like Ang Mo Kio or Bedok use a “decoupling” strategy (one spouse sells share to the other) so that the spouse holding zero properties can buy the next investment unit as a “first property”. This can reduce ABSD but comes with legal, BSD, and loan implications. Speak to a conveyancing lawyer and check detailed scenarios using our Financing & Loan Options guide Homejourney: Guide to ABSD Stamp Duty Complete: Financing and Loan Options .

2. Stress‑test your numbers with TDSR, LTV and BSD

Beyond ABSD, you must factor in:

Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD): tiered 1%–6% for residential property, with 5% on the portion between S$1.5M–S$3M and 6% above S$3M.[2][7]
Loan‑to‑Value (LTV) limits: MAS limits how much you can borrow based on existing loans and tenure.
Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR): caps your total monthly debt obligations (including all properties, car loans, credit cards) as a share of income.
Mortgage Servicing Ratio (MSR) for HDB and ECs.

Use Homejourney’s bank rate comparison tool Bank Rates together with MAS rules to estimate your maximum safe loan amount and monthly instalment. When in doubt, keep instalments to a level where you can still handle 6–12 months of vacancy on your investment unit.