New Launch vs Resale in Singapore: Should You Buy From the Developer? (2026)
New launch or resale home in Singapore? How payments, loans, legal protection, defects, SSD and ABSD timing differ in 2026, and who each option suits.
How we made this. Updated for 2026 with AI-assisted research. Figures are linked to their sources — check them before you act.
Neither option wins by default. A new launch spreads your payments over the build, comes with standard contracts and a 12-month defects warranty, and gives upgraders time to sell their old home. But you pay a premium and wait years for the keys. A resale home lets you see exactly what you are buying and what similar units sold for, and you can move in or rent it out within months. In return, you take on its age, its lease and its flaws.
At a glance
- Cash timing: a new launch needs a 5–10% booking fee and 20% of the price at signing. A private resale home typically needs about 1% for the option and 5% in total when you exercise it, with the rest at completion a few months later.
- Loan: a new-launch loan is drawn in stages as the building goes up, so early interest is small. A resale loan is drawn in full on day one.
- Protection: developers must use the standard option and sale contracts, give a 12-month defects liability period, and pay damages if they deliver late. Resale homes are sold “as is”.
- Tax timing: the 4-year Seller’s Stamp Duty runs from when you buy, not when you get the keys. For married upgraders, the ABSD refund window on a new launch runs from TOP.
- 2026 context: supply is high. URA reported 15,810 unsold units with planning approval at end-June 2026, and the 2026 land sales programme is more than 50% above the 10-year average. Buyers have choice.
How the money flows
The rules for buying from licensed developers are set out in URA’s home buyers’ guide. Resale deals usually follow the standard CEA option template and the Law Society’s conditions of sale.
| Step | New launch (from the developer) | Private resale |
|---|---|---|
| Secure the unit | Booking fee of 5–10% for the option to purchase (OTP) | Option fee, commonly 1% |
| Contract | Developer sends the sale and purchase agreement within 14 days; you have 3 weeks to sign it | You exercise the OTP within the option period (two weeks in the standard template) |
| Payment at contract | 20% of the price in total, including the booking fee (developer may allow up to 8 weeks) | Commonly up to 5% of the price in total |
| If you walk away | Developer may keep 25% of the booking fee | You lose the whole option fee |
| Rest of the price | Paid in stages as construction progresses; 25% when TOP is issued; the balance at legal completion | Paid at completion, usually a few months after exercise |
| Stamp duty | Due within 14 days of signing | Due within 14 days of exercising |
Stamp duty is due within 14 days in both cases. On a S$1.8 million home, that is S$59,600 of Buyer’s Stamp Duty for a first-time citizen buyer.
The stage payments are the main financial draw of a new launch. You pay your own 25% (cash and CPF) first. After that, the bank pays each later instalment, and you pay interest only on what it has paid out so far. In the first years of a three- to four-year build, your instalments are small. The catch: you still need somewhere to live in the meantime, so you may be paying rent or your current mortgage at the same time. Model both scenarios in the Propwise mortgage calculator before you assume the new launch is cheaper to carry.
What you pay for “new”
Developers price new launches off land costs, construction costs and their margin. A new unit therefore usually costs more per square foot than an older one on the same street. Some of that premium buys real things: a full lease, modern layouts, new facilities and no repairs for years. Some of it is just newness, which fades.
You can measure the gap yourself. Look up the developer’s price per square foot, then compare it with recent resale deals within a kilometre on URA’s private transaction search. An old Propwise rule of thumb still works. When an older project sells for far less per square foot than a new launch next door, the gap can be larger than the cost of putting up the building. In that case, you are close to buying the older unit at land value.
For the market as a whole, prices are not running away. URA’s flash estimate put private prices up 1.4% in Q3 2026. Prices rose 2.2% in the Outside Central Region and fell slightly (−0.1%) in the Core Central Region. Supply is ample: URA counted 15,810 unsold units with planning approval at end-June 2026, and the 2026 Government Land Sales programme confirms 9,320 more homes for 2026. So check how many units a launch has left, and how many nearby projects will complete at the same time as yours. Those owners may compete with you for tenants or buyers.
Protection and risk
Buying new from a licensed developer gives you:
- Standard contracts approved by the Controller of Housing. The developer cannot slip in its own terms.
- Your payments go into a project account. The URA guide warns that this protection does not apply to small developers of four units or fewer, so check the developer’s licence.
- A promised date for vacant possession, with liquidated damages if the developer is late.
- A 12-month defects liability period. The developer must fix reported defects within one month of your notice. If it does not, you can hire your own contractor and deduct the cost from money held by the Singapore Academy of Law.
- A price cut if the final surveyed area is more than 3% smaller than the contract area.
The risks: you are buying a plan. The views, the neighbours and the finish quality are unknown. The show unit may not match your unit type. The market can fall before TOP. Our guides to new launches and developer defects cover these traps in detail.
Buying resale gives you: certainty. You can inspect the actual unit, check the real view at different times of day, read the management corporation’s accounts, and see what neighbours paid. Motivated sellers (estate cases, divorces, owners who have already bought elsewhere) can mean real discounts that a developer with deep pockets rarely offers.
The risks: there is no defects warranty, so inspect before you exercise. Older condos need more upkeep and may face special levies. The lease matters too. If the remaining lease does not cover the youngest buyer to age 95, CPF usage is pro-rated, and that also shrinks your pool of future buyers. Do not pay for en bloc hopes. The proposed lower consent thresholds for older developments have no start date yet. See our checklist for older developments.
Tax timing: SSD and ABSD
Two tax rules can decide the choice for you.
Seller’s Stamp Duty. For homes bought from 4 July 2025, SSD applies for four years, at 16% / 12% / 8% / 4%. The clock starts when you buy. On a new launch that completes three to four years after you sign, you may still owe SSD if you sell at TOP. The old trick of “buy at launch, sell before completion” now costs real money.
ABSD for upgraders. A married couple (at least one citizen) who buy a second home pay 20% ABSD upfront. They get it back only if they sell the first home within six months. For a completed resale home, those six months run from the purchase. For a new launch, they run from TOP or the certificate of statutory completion. This gives a couple years to stay in their old home while the new one is built. But it ties up 20% of the price in ABSD for that whole time. Singles do not get this refund (except citizens aged 55 and above buying a cheaper home). HDB and EC owners must also finish their minimum occupation period before they can buy private property at all.
Which suits you?
| You are… | Often a better fit |
|---|---|
| A couple upgrading from an HDB flat or condo, with ABSD cash to tie up | New launch (time to sell the old home) |
| Needing to move in within a year | Resale |
| Wanting to rent it out immediately | Resale |
| Stretching to afford, and counting on pay rises during the build | Neither: this is the classic overcommitment trap |
| Valuing certainty about the exact unit, view and price | Resale |
| Valuing a full lease, a warranty and modern facilities | New launch |
| Hunting for a below-market price | Resale (motivated sellers) |
Bottom line
Decide on cash flow and timing first, then on preference. A new launch suits buyers who can carry a home they cannot live in yet, and who value contract protection and a warranty. A resale suits buyers who want to see and verify everything, and use the home now. Whichever you choose, check recent transacted prices, get your loan approved before you pay anything, and read the contract with a lawyer. For more on this trade-off, see completed vs under-construction homes.
Sources
- Buying property: home buyers’ guide — URA, updated 29 Jun 2026
- Option to Purchase template for private residential property — CEA / DPTWG, v1.2, 10 Feb 2021
- Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) — IRAS, rates effective 15 Feb 2023 (checked Oct 2026)
- Remission of ABSD for a married couple — IRAS (checked Oct 2026)
- Extension of the SSD holding period and higher SSD rates — MAS, 3 Jul 2025
- How much CPF savings you can use for your home purchase — CPF Board (checked Oct 2026)
- Release of flash estimate for 3rd Quarter 2026 private residential property price index — URA, 1 Oct 2026
- Release of 2nd Quarter 2026 real estate statistics — URA, 24 Jul 2026
- Private housing supply under the GLS programme sustained at a high level in 2H 2026 — URA, 3 Jun 2026
- Proposed amendments to the collective sale regime — MinLaw, 4 Aug 2026
- Private residential transaction search — URA (checked Oct 2026)
3 reader comments
Kelvn Kong
Hi,
Correct me if I’m wrong… I’m assuming you are referring to buying buildings under construction and not buying TOP projects from developers.
In the case of a resale transaction, the buyer normally pays a 1 per cent option fee and 4 per cent more to exercise. However, the buyer still have to pay the remaining 15% within 6-8 weeks normally as required by most sellers. Which is almost the same as the “5+15” u mentioned. But that’s in the case of an 80/20 loan.
However, for a 60/40 loan it is drastically different! If the buyer has an existing housing loan, then he can only loan up to 60% from banks. Which means the buyer has to fork out 40% within 6-8 weeks under normal circumstances.
Whereas for buyers who buy from developers under normal progressive payment schemes, they need to pay a 5 per cent option fee and 15 per cent more eight weeks later. Subsequently, the next 10% is only required to be paid 6-12 months after exercising the option. And the last 10% is only required to be paid after 12 months from the exercising of the option.
That means buyers buying from developers need only to pay 40% in approx 12-18 months.
In short,
Buying resale properties:
Buyers have to pay 40% in 6-8 weeks.Buying new properties from developers:
Buyers have to pay 20% in 8 weeks.
The next 10% in 6-12 months.
The last 10% after after 12 months.So, I don’t really agree that investing in tenanted apartments has a lower upfront commitment than buyer from developers. In fact, it’s on the contrary.
Augustine Guo
Good Comment.
Stephen
Kudo kelvn on the upfront payments for resale. Writer miss out on the rental collected for tenanted purchases which will help towards the loan payment by the investor. Maintenance of the resale property may be hefty too if it is tenanted for long period of time.