Seller's Stamp Duty Hike Will Curb Flipping, But Analysts Expect Little Market Impact

Most buyers are owner-occupiers, they say, amid move to cut sub-sale of properties

- Isabelle Liew

The latest revisions to the seller's stamp duty (SSD) will help curb short-term speculative behaviour by some property investors, but the overall impact on the market is expected to be minimal as most buyers are owner-occupiers, said property analysts.

The longer holding period of four years, up from three years previously, and higher SSD rates of between 4 per cent and 16 per cent were announced late on July 3, in a statement by the Ministry of National Development, Ministry of Finance and Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The latest changes will apply to all residential property bought from July 4.

Analysts said the move was seen as a mild measure to curb property flippers, who still make up a minority of buyers, amid rising sub-sales from 2020 to 2024.

A sub-sale refers to the sale of a unit to another buyer before the unit is completed.

The use of the SSD has been successful in the past in cutting sub-sales.

Mr Marcus Chu, chief executive of real estate agency ERA Singapore, said there has been a significant jump in sellers who sell their properties after holding it for three to four years, which could have prompted the authorities to take action.

In 2024, there were 2,104 sellers who sold their non-landed homes after owning it for three to four years, up from 358 in 2020, he noted, citing data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

In the first half of 2025, such sellers accounted for 14.7 per cent of total non-landed home sales, or 858 transactions.

In their statement on July 3, the authorities highlighted a sharp increase in the number of private residential property transactions with short holding periods in recent years. They also pointed out a significant rise in sub-sales.