Singapore, 15 Feb 2023 SINGAPORE will introduce a higher marginal Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) for higher-value residential and non-residential properties that will kick in from Wednesday (Feb 15), but market watchers say the move will hardly put a dent in property demand.
Where the BSD hike might hit harder is in the en bloc market, where the higher duties could widen the current expectations gap between buyers and sellers, and in big-ticket billion-dollar deals.
However, OrangeTee’s senior vice-president of research and analytics Christine Sun said there may be some knee-jerk reactions to the changes.
“Buyers need time to reassess their finances and observe the market reaction,” she said. “Nevertheless, properties in the upper tier may not see a major impact as wealthy buyers are not likely to be deterred by the extra BSD.”
Citing URA data for 2022, Sun said 54.7 per cent of the total private residential transactions were at least S$1.5 million, while 15.4 per cent were at least $3 million. About 39.2 per cent were between S$1.5 million and S$3 million.
“Moving forward, about 50 per cent of transactions may be affected by the increased BSD if we use last year’s data as an indication,” she said.