Completed vs Under-Construction Property: Which Should You Buy? (2026)

A completed home has its Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP): you can inspect it, move in or rent it out within months. An under-construction home is a plan: you pay in stages over three to four years and get the keys after TOP. The first costs more cash up front and carries age-related risks. The second spreads your payments and gives you time, but ties up money in a home you cannot use and exposes you to delays and a changing market. This guide covers that timing choice. For the wider new-launch versus resale question, see our guide to buying from developers or resale.

At a glance

• Cash: an uncompleted unit needs 20% of the price at signing, then stage payments, with 25% due at TOP. A completed unit’s payments are due within months.
• Interest: during a build you pay interest only on what the bank has paid out, so early instalments are low. You still need somewhere to live.
• Risk: delays, market moves and a final unit you could not see. Developers must pay damages for late delivery, and licensed developers hold buyers’ money in a project account.
• Tax timing: Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) runs four years from signing, not from the keys. ABSD refunds for upgraders run from TOP.
• Fit: it depends on when you need the home, how long you can carry two sets of costs, and how much risk you accept.

What changes at TOP

URA’s home buyers’ guide sets out the path for an uncompleted purchase:

Stage	What happens
Option	You pay a 5% to 10% booking fee. If you do not exercise the option, the developer may keep 25% of it.
Sale and purchase agreement	You pay the balance of 20% of the price. Later payments follow construction stages.
TOP	The developer collects 25% when TOP is issued and roads, drains and sewers are done. Vacant possession is due by the contract date, and in any case within 21 days of that payment.
Defects period	The developer must fix defects reported within 12 months, including in common property.
Legal completion	The balance is paid and title passes to you.

Compare that with a completed unit, resale or unsold from the developer. You see the actual unit, and you can negotiate on the real price. The cost is a larger cash outlay in a short time, and any defects are yours to fix. The 12-month developer warranty does not apply to a completed resale home. See our guide to developer defects.

One quirk: once a project has its Certificate of Statutory Completion and every unit has its title, URA says the developer is de-licensed and need not use the standard sale forms for unsold units. If you buy a completed unit from a developer at that point, have a lawyer check the contract.

A worked cash-flow example

Say you buy a S$2.0m unit at launch with a 75% bank loan, so your own 25%, S$500,000 in cash and CPF, is paid first. These timings are assumptions, not a real project. The 40% in stage payments is split 10/10/5/5/5/5 across the build, as in the Housing Developers Rules schedule. TOP is in month 36, and the bank pays everything above your 25%. At 1.7%, within the 1.5% to 1.8% floating range seen in October 2026:

• The bank has paid out only S$700,000 by month 35. Interest in the first 36 months is roughly S$16,000 to S$19,000, depending on when each stage falls.
• A S$2.0m completed unit with the same loan costs S$1.5m × 1.7% × 3 years = about S$76,500 of interest over the same period, before any principal.
• So the build saves roughly S$58,000 to S$60,000 of interest. That sounds large. But it ignores four things: the S$500,000 of your own money is tied up in a home you cannot use (at even the 2.5% CPF Ordinary Account rate, that is about S$37,500 over three years), you must still pay for where you live, a new launch usually costs more per square foot, and you carry market risk.

The right comparison is the full cost of both routes over the same period. Our mortgage calculator helps you set up each case. Developer promotions can distort the maths. Any rebate, furniture package or rental guarantee is paid for through the price, so ask for the price with and without it. We could not confirm which financing perks developers offer on private projects today. One that has gone: the Deferred Payment Scheme ended for ECs on sites tendered from 8 May 2026.

The risks that differ

Under construction

• Delay. The contract fixes a vacant possession date. If the developer misses it, you can claim liquidated damages under the contract formula. An “estimated TOP date” in marketing is not binding.
• Developer risk. Licensed developers must pay buyers’ money into a project account, and use the standard contracts. Developers of four or fewer units need no licence, may use their own contracts and need not use a project account. URA tells buyers to take more care there.
• Unit differences. The show unit may differ in layout, materials and fittings from yours. If the final surveyed area is more than 3% below the contract area, the price falls for the excess. Our guide to buying from an artist’s impression covers the traps.
• Missed payments. If you are more than 14 days late, the developer can end the contract and keep 20% of the price. For a S$2.0m unit, that is S$400,000. Plan your cash before you sign.

Completed

• Condition. You must inspect it yourself and budget for repairs and renovation.
• Lease and age. Check the remaining lease and the estate’s sinking fund.
• Valuation. If the bank values the unit below your price, you pay the gap in cash.

Tax and timing

SSD. For homes bought from 4 July 2025, SSD is 16%, 12%, 8% or 4% if you sell within one, two, three or four years. The clock starts when you buy. If the example unit is sold for S$2.2m in month 37, SSD is 4%, or S$88,000. Selling at TOP is no longer a cheap exit.

ABSD for upgraders. A married couple, with at least one citizen, who buy a second home pay 20% ABSD upfront, S$400,000 on S$2.0m. They get it back only if they sell the first home within six months of TOP or completion for an uncompleted unit, or within six months of purchase for a completed one. A build gives time to sell the old home, but the ABSD cash is tied up for years.

The market and the rent

For investors, rental timing matters. A completed unit can be let soon after purchase, and you can base your yield on rents achieved by similar units in the same project. An uncompleted unit earns nothing for three or four years, and any yield quoted is a forecast. URA put private vacancy at 6.4% in Q2 2026, and there were 15,810 unsold units with planning approval, so check which other projects complete at the same time as yours. Prices rose 1.4% in URA’s Q3 flash estimate, but that does not tell you what the market will do by your TOP date. Do not buy on the assumption that prices will rise before completion.

Which suits you?

Your situation	Often a better fit
Need a home within a year	Completed
Want rent from day one	Completed
Selling an old home and can wait three to four years	Under construction
Cash is tight now, with strong future income	Under construction, but plan for the higher payments after TOP
Want to see the exact unit and view	Completed
Want a new unit and a defects warranty	Under construction, or a recently completed unit from the developer

Bottom line

The choice is about time. Under construction trades certainty and early use for lower payments now. Completed gives certainty and use now but demands the cash now. Work out both cash-flow paths, check your worst case, and walk away if the numbers only work with price growth. Before you visit a showflat, use our checklist. This is general information, not advice on your situation.

Sources

• Housing Developers Rules, First Schedule (payment stages) — Singapore Statutes Online, checked Oct 2026
• Buying property: home buyers’ guide (uncompleted private residential property) — URA (checked Oct 2026)
• Seller’s Stamp Duty for residential property — IRAS, rates from 4 Jul 2025 (checked Oct 2026)
• Remission of ABSD for a married couple — IRAS (checked Oct 2026)
• Strengthening the executive condominium housing scheme — MND, 8 May 2026
• Home loan package rates after the September 2026 Fed rate rise — Business Times, 2 Oct 2026
• Release of 2nd Quarter 2026 real estate statistics — URA, 24 Jul 2026
• Flash estimate of 3rd Quarter 2026 private residential property price index — URA, 1 Oct 2026