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Before you put your name on your parents' flat, do this sum

Before adding your name to a parent's HDB flat, calculate the ABSD and LTV impact on your own future property purchase, since becoming an owner (even unintentionally via joint tenancy or inheritance) can add S$300,000 in stamp duty and, if a loan is attached, push LTV limits down enough to raise required upfront cash by up to S$750,000. All five main options for handling a parent's flat (leaving it vacant, renting it out, right-sizing, Lease Buyback, or selling) remain neutral for an adult child's own property plans only if that child stays off the title, so securing an LPA early and verifying CPF refund amounts and title arrangements are essential first steps.

Sarah Chen·2 Oct 2026

DBS's New CPF-OA HDB Loan, Explained

Your loan is sized on the valuation, not the price you agreed

Loans are capped using the lower of the purchase price or the official valuation, so any amount paid above valuation (Cash Over Valuation) must be paid entirely in cash and cannot be financed or drawn from CPF. This makes the cash required at completion rise directly with any premium paid over valuation, while the loan amount and monthly repayment stay unchanged. Sellers face the reverse risk: selling below valuation can force a cash top-up to cover any CPF refund shortfall.

Sarah Chen·1 Oct 2026

Braddell View tries again: what the new en bloc threshold actually changes

Braddell View has formed a collective sale committee, becoming the first large HUDC-scale estate to test Singapore's newly lowered en bloc consent thresholds. The amendment cuts required consent for 40-60 year old developments from 80% to 70%, but consent alone isn't the barrier that sank Braddell View's 2019 tender, which drew zero bids despite meeting thresholds, because developers balked at the reserve price and lease top-up premium. A lower threshold increases the odds of reaching a sale agreement but does not guarantee a developer will pay what owners want, and owners face new constraints including a three-year wait after a failed attempt and CPF/financing rules that can make replacement housing unaffordable for older sellers.

Sarah Chen·29 Sept 2026

The Primary 1 property premium: what moving for a 1km address actually costs

Moving to a 1km address for Primary 1 priority typically adds about S$42,700 in mortgage premium over six school years (roughly S$7,100 a year), on top of about S$39,380 in one-off transaction costs for the move itself, plus potential ABSD and bridging loan costs if buying before selling. A 1km address only improves ballot odds within a registration phase and does not guarantee a place, while requiring 30 months of occupancy against a 25-year loan commitment.

Sarah Chen·28 Sept 2026

Core inflation hits a two-year high. Your mortgage rate probably won't follow

Singapore's core inflation rose to 2.2% in August 2026, but this does not directly raise mortgage costs because MAS manages policy through the S$NEER exchange rate band rather than a domestic interest rate. If anything, expectations of a firmer currency slope in October tend to soften SGD rates like SORA, making floating-rate loans more likely to benefit than suffer from this inflation print.

Sarah Chen·25 Sept 2026

Forced sales don't lie: the S$16.28m that cleared and the trophy assets that didn't

In Singapore's September 2026 forced auction of seized money laundering assets, only four condominium units at Martin Modern and Wallich Residence sold, totalling S$16.28 million, with individual prices between S$2.08 million and S$6.6 million. Fifteen other properties, including a S$25.3 million South Beach Residences penthouse and a Kaki Bukit factory, failed to sell or were withdrawn. The pattern shows liquidity and comparable pricing data, not scandal stigma, determined which assets cleared, with nothing above roughly S$7 million selling.

Sarah Chen·24 Sept 2026

Property valuation reports: what they actually decide

A property valuation report is a certified, date-specific estimate of market value prepared by a licensed valuer, and it is this figure, not the agreed price, that banks, HDB and CPF use to set loan-to-value limits, CPF usage caps and cash requirements. Because loans are based on the lower of price or valuation, any amount paid above the valuation must be covered entirely in cash, making the report the decisive number in financing, refinancing, and asset division cases.

Sarah Chen·21 Sept 2026

Three failed tenders later, a Cairnhill block changes its pitch, not its price

Trendale Tower on Cairnhill Road is being marketed for its fourth collective sale attempt at a $168 million reserve, now with the option to redevelop it as a Serviced Apartment 2 (SA2) scheme instead of a conventional condominium, since three prior strata-sale attempts failed to clear. Whether $168 million works depends on the land rate per square foot per plot ratio, which has not been disclosed, and SA2's different economics (yield on cost rather than strata sell-down) may offer a viable path where the condo case did not.

Sarah Chen·18 Sept 2026

Properties linked to the S$3 billion money laundering case go on sale

Sarah Chen·17 Sept 2026

153 units in August: why Singapore's new home sales number says more about supply than demand

August 2026's steep year-on-year and month-on-month declines in Singapore's private home sales largely reflect a near-absence of new project launches during the Hungry Ghost month rather than a genuine drop in buyer demand. The 153 units sold came entirely from residual stock at earlier launches like Dunearn House and Lentor Gardens Residences, and the true test of market demand will come in September when City Developments previews Lucerne Grand and take-up rates can be properly assessed.

Sarah Chen·16 Sept 2026

Land constraints, not conservation: reading the next decade of flat supply

Sarah Chen·15 Sept 2026