Understanding the Latest Cooling Measures

By Bloom Realty Team | Dec 24, 2025 | 6 min read

"Cooling measures" is a term that strikes fear into the heart of sellers and hope into the heart of buyers. The government's interventionist approach ensures the Singapore property market remains stable and aligned with economic fundamentals. But what exactly are the latest rules?

The "Wait-Out" Period for Private Owners

One of the most significant recent changes affects private property owners (PPOs) downgrading to HDB resale flats. PPOs now must serve a 15-month wait-out period after selling their private property before they can buy a non-subsidized HDB resale flat.

Exception: This does not apply to seniors aged 55 and above who are moving from a private property to a 4-room or smaller resale flat.

Loan-to-Value (LTV) Tightening

For HDB loans granted by HDB, the LTV limit has been tightened from 80% to 75%. This aligns HDB loan limits closer to bank loan limits (which remain at 75%).

Implication: Buyers taking HDB loans must now cough up a larger downpayment (25%), though this can still be fully covered by CPF OA if sufficient.

Stress-Test Rate Increases

To ensure borrowers can handle rate hikes, the medium-term interest rate floor used to compute TDSR and MSR has been raised. This effectively reduces the loan quantum you can borrow for a given income level.

Why These measures?

The goal is twofold: 1. Prudence: Discouraging buyers from over-leveraging in a high-rate environment. 2. Sustainability: Moderating the pace of HDB resale price increases to keep public housing affordable.

Conclusion

While cooling measures add friction to transactions, they also remove massive volatility risk. For long-term home owners, this stability is a hidden asset.