SINGAPORE: The increases in the additional buyer’s stamp duty are a “pre-emptive measure” to dampen local and foreign investment demand amid renewed interest in residential properties, said Minister for National Development Desmond Lee on Thursday .
Singaporeans buying their second residential property will pay an ABSD rate of 20 per cent, up from 17 per cent, while those buying their third and subsequent residential property will have to pay an increased rate of 30 per cent, up from 25 per cent. This is driven by two things – a strong demand from Singaporeans to buy homes to live in, and renewed local and foreign interest in investing in residential properties, said the minister.
For example, foreign investments, as a proportion of property transactions, fell from about 20 per cent in 2011 to about 3 to 4 per cent in the last few years, he added. The average from 2017 to 2019 was about 6 per cent.