Property players call for lower ABSD on foreign buyers, review of EC income and loan caps

[SINGAPORE] Scaling back the 60 per cent additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) rate for foreigners purchasing prime properties was top of mind among agencies and developers, who urged a calibrated rollback of market-cooling measures aimed at taming demand and keeping a lid on prices.

Agencies also called for higher borrowing limits for buyers of increasingly pricey executive condominiums (ECs), among the several recommendations proposed by property players in their Budget 2026 wish list.  

The ABSD regime, first introduced in 2011 and levelled up several times, was hiked up sharply in 2023 to double the duty charged on foreign buyers from 30 per cent to 60 per cent, and that for Singaporeans buying a second property to 20 per cent. The intervention has hit sales in the prime Core Central Region (CCR) hard.