Buying property in Singapore as a foreigner

Yes, a foreigner can buy a condominium in Singapore, in their own name, with no approval and no minimum price. Almost nobody should. Additional buyer's stamp duty for foreigners is 60%, unchanged since 27 April 2023. A S$2 million flat carries S$1,269,600 ($999,700) in stamp duty, additional and ordinary together. Five nationalities pay none of the additional part.

Current at 9 September 2026. Dollars at SGD 1.27 to US$1, the rate of 8 September 2026.

Two buyers, the same flat, S$1.2 million apart

Your passport decides this, not your budget. On a S$2,000,000 flat ($1,574,800) a foreigner pays S$1,200,000 ($944,900) in additional buyer's stamp duty. An American in the same showroom, on the same day, pays nothing. It is the first number to check when you start moving to Singapore.

Free-trade agreements tax an American national, and a national or permanent resident of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Iceland, as a citizen on a first home. Everyone else pays 60%. That one line beats any price you could negotiate. The foreigner stamp duty rules set out who else gets relief.

The rates have stood since 27 April 2023. CHECK IRAS publishes them on a JavaScript page our research could not read. Every duty figure here is the rate in force from that date. No 2026 source we checked contradicts it.

What you may buy, and what needs permission

Open to any foreigner, resident here or not, with no approval, no quota and no minimum price:

A unit in a condominium or a private apartment block
A strata unit in an approved mixed development
An executive condominium at least ten years old
Any tenure — freehold, 999-year or 99-year

Closed unless the Land Dealings Approval Unit says otherwise: landed houses, vacant land, strata landed homes outside condominium schemes, and shophouses in residential use. Approval goes only to a permanent resident of five-plus years making an exceptional economic contribution (Singapore Land Authority, read 11 September 2026). Assessment takes about 30 working days.

Sentosa Cove needs the same approval, for owner-occupation only. Nothing in SLA's criteria calls it fast-track.

Public flats are closed to you outright. A permanent resident may buy a resale flat after three years of residence, and only with a citizen or resident family nucleus. Renting one is different: a non-citizen quota caps foreigners at 8% of a neighbourhood and 11% of a block. Those flats are real money now. A five-room at Pinnacle @ Duxton resold for S$1,701,000 ($1,339,400) on 9 September 2026 (Stacked Homes). You cannot bid on it.

The tax on a S$2 million flat comes to 63% of the price

On a S$2,000,000 flat ($1,574,800)	Rate	You pay
Buyer's stamp duty	1–6%, in bands	S$69,600 ($54,800)
Additional buyer's stamp duty, foreigner	60%	S$1,200,000 ($944,900)
Conveyancing	fixed fee	S$2,500–4,000 ($1,970–3,150)
Agent	1–2%, paid by the seller	Nothing
Handed over above the price		S$1,272,100–1,273,600 ($1,001,700–1,002,800)

Rates in force since 27 April 2023. Total worked in Singapore, honestly, September 2026.

None of that buys a bigger flat. A live listing does not improve it. Amberwood at Holland previewed from S$2,568,000 ($2,022,000) on 10 September 2026 (Stacked Homes). The additional duty on its cheapest unit alone is S$1,540,800 ($1,213,200).

Sale prices run by band. Singapore, honestly prices 24 buildings across five bands, from S$12,100 per square metre in the basic band to S$62,800 in the ultra band, with a figure for each building.

If you hold permanent residence, this page is not about you. Your additional duty on a first home is 5%, not 60% — S$100,000 ($78,700) on a S$2 million flat instead of S$1,200,000. A second home is 30% and a third is 35%, on the same rates unchanged since 27 April 2023. A citizen pays 0%, then 20%, then 30% on the same ladder.

Three traps, each with a price on it

A company does not fix it. An entity or a trust pays 65% additional duty, five points worse than you pay yourself. There is no nominee structure of the Thai or Indonesian kind. The restriction sits on the property type, not on the name.

The exit is locked for four years. Seller's stamp duty runs 16%, 12%, 8% and 4% in years one to four, on homes bought on or after 4 July 2025. A joint release from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and two ministries set that date (mas.gov.sg, read 10 September 2026). Sell within a year and it costs S$320,000 ($252,000) on a S$2 million sale.

Letting it out is taxed hard. Property tax on a home you do not live in runs 12% to 36% of annual value, on the 2024 schedule. Rental income of a non-resident is taxed at 24% (iras.gov.sg, read 10 September 2026). Your right to live here rests on a job. Read the Employment Pass salary floors before you assume you will still be here in year five.

The market is rising slowly, and the way out is narrow

Every figure here comes from the Urban Redevelopment Authority's second-quarter release of 24 July 2026, re-read on 10 September 2026.

Prices rose 0.5% in the second quarter, after 0.9% in the first. The first half of 2026 came to 1.4%, against 1.8% a year earlier
The centre is carrying it. Non-landed prices rose 1.8% in the core central region, fell 1.2% in the city fringe and fell 0.1% in the suburbs
The rental index rose 0.7% in the second quarter, after 0.3% in the first
Vacancy in completed private units is 6.4%, up from 6.2%, and above the 2023 peak
42,472 units sit in the approved pipeline, 15,810 of them unsold. Only 1,611 private units completed in the first half, against 2,329 a year earlier, with about 5,000 due in the second half (Stacked Homes, 4 August 2026)
Resales were 3,813 of the quarter's sales against 2,141 new units, so 62% of the market

The authority told buyers in July 2026 to "exercise prudence" and called conditions "highly uncertain". Prime rents did rise 1.7% in the first half (Knight Frank via Stacked Homes, 26 August 2026). A prime unit at least lets.

Price per square metre is where the sources part company. Numbeo's user-reported city-centre figure is S$29,580 ($23,300) on 6 September 2026. EdgeProp's transacted data for new prime freehold runs S$43,000–70,000 ($33,900–55,100) on 8 September 2026. CHECK They measure different things — a crowd average against new-launch prime — and neither one is your building.

So should you buy? No, unless you hold one of five passports or permanent residence

No. Rent instead, and keep the money somewhere you can sell in a week.

The arithmetic settles it. Duty is 63% of the price on the way in. Prices rose 1.4% in the first half of 2026, which is about 2.8% a year at that pace. You need roughly eighteen years of that to earn the duty back. The seller's duty holds you for the first four.

If you hold an American, Swiss, Liechtenstein, Norwegian or Icelandic passport, the sum changes completely and buying can make sense. A permanent resident is the second exception, at 5% on a first home. Even then, ask the harder question first. Your right to live here rests on an Employment Pass, at S$5,600 a month now and S$6,200 in finance. Both floors rise, to S$6,000 and S$6,600, on 1 January 2027. Ask whether you will still hold one in ten years. The flat outlasts every pass that let you buy it.

For everyone else the rental market is the honest answer. Renting an apartment in Singapore covers the deposit, the 0.4% lease stamp duty and how much room you have to negotiate.

What this page does not cover

The buyer's-duty ladder, all 6 bands from 1% to 6%, and the seller's-duty schedule year by year, run on your own price
The visa routes that actually apply, with the salary floor and the date it changes — a flat here buys you no right to stay
The three-level monthly budget, line by line, and what the same life costs in Manhattan, San Francisco and Los Angeles
Who should pick another city in this series instead, named, and what would have to change for Singapore to be the right answer

All of it is in Singapore, honestly — 23 pages, $29. See what's inside

The next question is which area. The best neighbourhoods in Singapore for expats gives a rent range and an honest drawback for all nine. Still choosing between countries? Compare all ten cities on rent, tax and visas first.