Cashew
Thomson Reserve sold 1,143 of its 1,268 units over its launch weekend on 31 October and 1 November, at an average of about $2,900 psf. More launches are on the way, including One Chuan Grove, Lentor Signature and The River Opus.
When demand is this high, buyers decide within a weekend. That's why you should be very clear on your financing before you book a unit. A loan for a BUC (a building under construction) works differently from a loan for a finished home. The bank pays the developer in stages as the building goes up. What you pay each month, and which loan deals you can get, change twice: at TOP (the Temporary Occupation Permit, when you can move in) and at CSC (the Certificate of Statutory Completion, when the building is formally complete).
This guide covers bank loans for private condos and ECs bought from a developer. BTO flats with an HDB loan follow different rules.
When you buy from a developer, you don't pay the full price at once. The Housing Developers Rules set a payment schedule. A share of the price falls due as each stage of construction is done, within 14 days of the developer's notice.
Here is that schedule for the cheapest 2-bedroom at Thomson Reserve. The developer's starting price for it was $1,544,000 (592 sq ft) on 15 October 2026. The example assumes this is your first home loan, so the bank can lend up to 75% of the price.
| Stage | Share | Amount | Paid with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booking fee | 5% | $77,200 | Cash only |
| Sale and Purchase Agreement (within 8 weeks) | 15% | $231,600 | Cash or CPF |
| Foundation | 10% | $154,400 | Half cash or CPF, half loan |
| Reinforced concrete framework | 10% | $154,400 | Loan |
| Partition walls | 5% | $77,200 | Loan |
| Roofing and ceiling | 5% | $77,200 | Loan |
| Door and window frames, wiring, plumbing | 5% | $77,200 | Loan |
| Car park, roads and drains | 5% | $77,200 | Loan |
| TOP | 25% | $386,000 | Loan |
| CSC | 15% | $231,600 | Loan |
Two things stand out.
The first 20% comes from you, and quickly. That's $308,800 within eight weeks of booking. The 5% booking fee has to be cash, because CPF can't be used for it. The 15% after that can come from your CPF Ordinary Account. The foundation stage is split because a 75% loan leaves 25% for you to pay. You've paid 20% by then, so the first 5% of the foundation stage is also yours, and the bank pays the other 5%.
The bank's largest payout is at TOP. A quarter of the price is paid to the developer when the building gets its TOP. The bank pays it, but this is when your monthly instalment jumps, as the next section shows. For Thomson Reserve, the developer expects TOP in the second half of 2030.
A developer can ask for a booking fee of 5% to 10%, though 5% is usual.
What you need in the first eight weeks. Add stamp duty to the first 20%. Buyer's Stamp Duty (BSD) on this unit is $46,800, due within 14 days of signing the Sale and Purchase Agreement. That brings the total to $355,600 in the first eight weeks, of which at least the $77,200 booking fee must be cash. The rest can come from CPF, within your CPF limits. About a year later, the foundation stage adds another $77,200 from you.
Many buyers expect to pay the full monthly instalment as soon as they sign. With a BUC, that isn't how it works.
The bank pays the developer one stage at a time. You only pay instalments on the amount the bank has paid out so far. So your instalments start small and rise with each stage.
Here is how that could look for the Thomson Reserve example, at a floating rate of 1.45% over 30 years:
| After this stage | Roughly when | Loan paid out so far | Monthly instalment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation | late 2027 | $77,200 | about $265 |
| Car park, roads and drains | early 2030 | $540,400 | about $1,852 |
| TOP | second half of 2030 | $926,400 | about $3,175 |
| CSC | about a year after TOP | $1,158,000 | about $3,969 |
The jump at TOP is the one to plan for. Your instalment goes from about $1,852 to about $3,175 in one step, and rises again at CSC. The low instalments of the early years are not a guide to what you'll pay once you move in.
A few things would change these figures. Banks usually count the loan term from the first payout, so by TOP you'd be repaying over slightly less than 30 years, and the real instalments would be a little higher. The developer sets the actual timing of each stage; the dates above are our estimates. And the rate isn't fixed. Floating BUC packages from the banks Cashew tracks ranged from 1.32% to 1.47% for the first year on 5 November 2026. TOP is about four years away, and no one can say where rates will be by then.
Loan-to-value (LTV). LTV is the most a bank can lend you, as a share of the price. For a new launch, the bank works from the purchase price after any developer discounts.
| Your housing loans | Most you can borrow | Minimum cash |
|---|---|---|
| None (this is your first) | 75% | 5% |
| One already | 45% | 25% |
| Two or more | 35% | 25% |
These limits are lower if your loan runs longer than 30 years, or past your 65th birthday. For a first loan, the limit falls to 55%, with at least 10% in cash.
Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR). TDSR caps all your monthly debt repayments at 55% of your gross monthly income. If you're buying with someone, it's your combined income. The bank doesn't test you at your actual rate. It tests you at 4%, or at the rate your package moves to after its first few years if that's higher. That's to check you could still pay if rates rose. For a BUC, you're assessed on the full loan when you buy, even though the bank pays it out over several years.
For the Thomson Reserve example, a $1,158,000 loan over 30 years tests at about $5,528 a month at 4%. To pass, you'd need a gross monthly income of about $10,052, with no other debts.
Mortgage Servicing Ratio (MSR), for ECs only. If you're buying a new EC, a second limit applies. Your home loan instalment alone can't be more than 30% of your income.
Get an In-Principle Approval first. This is a bank's written estimate of what it will lend you. With launches selling out in a weekend, it tells you your real budget before you book.
Buyers of a resale home usually choose between a fixed and a floating rate. For a BUC, the case is slightly different.
On a fixed rate, your rate stays the same for a set number of years. On a floating rate, it moves with a benchmark such as SORA (the Singapore Overnight Rate Average, an average of the interest rates banks charge each other overnight). Banks offer only floating rates on BUC loans. So for the years of construction, your rate moves with the market. On 5 November 2026, the floating BUC packages Cashew tracks had no lock-in (a period when leaving the loan costs a penalty).
The choices open up in two steps.
A free conversion, often at TOP. Many BUC packages let you switch once or twice to another package from the same bank without a fee, for example to a fixed rate once you're near completion. Some packages tie the conversion to TOP. Others don't tie it to a stage. Check how many your package gives, and when.
After CSC: any bank. At CSC, the bank has paid out the full loan. From then on, you can refinance (move your loan to another bank) without the cancellation fee covered below.
ABSD, if this isn't your first property. Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) is paid on top of BSD, within the same 14 days. Singapore Citizens pay 20% on a second property and 30% on a third. Permanent residents pay 5% on a first property, 30% on a second and 35% on a third. Foreigners pay 60%. On the $1,544,000 example, 20% is $308,800.
The ABSD refund, if you're upgrading. A married couple, with at least one Singapore Citizen, buying a second home together pays the ABSD upfront and can get it back later. To qualify, they must sell their first home within six months of the new home's TOP or CSC, whichever comes first (usually TOP). Read more in our [guide to the ABSD refund deadline].
Switching banks before the loan is fully paid out. If you refinance before CSC, the old bank charges a cancellation fee on the amount it hasn't paid out yet. For the banks Cashew tracks, that was 0.75% on 5 November 2026. If you switch at TOP in the Thomson Reserve example, $231,600 is still unpaid. That's a fee of about $1,737.
Delays. If TOP is late, everything tied to it moves: when you move in, when you can refinance, and your ABSD refund deadline. If the developer hands over your unit later than the date in your Sale and Purchase Agreement, it pays you damages of 10% a year, worked out daily, on the instalments you've paid.
A new rule on plan changes. From 31 December 2026, URA has strengthened the rules for developers. If a developer makes major changes to the approved plans and your objection leads to the purchase being cancelled, the developer must repay your loan interest, loan cancellation charges and legal fees, up to 5% of the price.
Some buyers plan to add or remove a name after they sign. With a BUC, that is harder than it looks.
Once the Sale and Purchase Agreement is signed, it can't be changed without approval from the Controller of Housing, the government official who regulates developers. Removing a co-owner counts as that person selling their share:
There is one exception. If you add a spouse, parent, child or sibling within two months of signing, and no money changes hands, IRAS may waive some or all of the duty.
Selling the whole unit before completion is allowed, but SSD applies here too. For Thomson Reserve, the four years run to around the end of 2030, after the expected TOP. So whoever is on the agreement when you sign is likely to stay on it at least until you get the keys. Decide the names before you sign.
If you're looking at one of the upcoming launches, Cashew can look at your case and answer your questions as an unbiased broker.
Buying an HDB flat on $3,000 a month is possible because the purchase depends on three ordered factors: how much you can borrow based on income (set by MSR and TDSR caps), which CPF housing grants you qualify for as a single buyer, and how much your CPF Ordinary Account can cover for the remaining balance. For a $3,000 earner, the income-based instalment cap of $900 a month limits the loan to roughly $198,000, while grants of $40,000 to $100,000 and CPF Ordinary Account funds can cover the rest of a flat like a $330,000 Yishun unit without needing cash savings.
Ethan Ng·29 Oct 2026
A record 597 HDB resale flats sold for $1m or more in Q3 2026, and buying one requires meeting three rules at once: the Mortgage Servicing Ratio income cap, the 75% loan-to-value ceiling, and cash over valuation that cannot be borrowed or paid from CPF. The article breaks down how these rules combine to determine the income and cash a buyer needs, comparing HDB and bank loan scenarios.
Ethan Ng·27 Oct 2026© 2026 Cashew. All rights reserved.
