Buying or selling a resale condo in Singapore follows a seven-stage process: eligibility checks, property search and financing, Option to Purchase (OTP) grant and exercise, stamp duty payment, mortgage drawdown, completion, and key handover — typically spanning 10 to 16 weeks end-to-end (as of 2026-05). Sellers face a four-year Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) window on properties purchased from 4 July 2025 onwards, while buyers must pay BSD within 14 days of exercising the OTP and engage a licensed conveyancing lawyer throughout.
You’ve found the condo you want. The seller has agreed on a price. What happens next is where most deals either glide to completion — or quietly unravel. The Singapore resale condo process is well-defined by law, but the sequencing of deposits, stamp duties, CPF drawdowns, mortgage letters, and legal deadlines is precise enough that a missed step or a misunderstood timeline can cost buyers tens of thousands of dollars or sellers a buyer altogether.
This guide walks both sides of the transaction through every stage, quoting current rates and deadlines (as of 2026-05), so that neither buyer nor seller is caught off guard by paperwork, a liquidity shortfall, or a regulatory change they hadn’t heard about.
The regulatory landscape (as of 2026-05)
Singapore’s condo resale market is governed by several overlapping frameworks:
- The Conveyancing and Law of Property Act and the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) regulate how OTPs are issued and agents must behave. From 2026, the Singapore Land Authority’s Digital Conveyancing Portal (DCP) is rolling out to replace paper-based OTPs for resale private properties in its first phase, making end-to-end digital transactions possible for the first time.
- Stamp duties are administered by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and include Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD), Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD), and Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD). All three apply to private condo transactions depending on buyer profile and seller holding period.
- Mortgage financing is subject to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) cap of 55% and a Loan-to-Value (LTV) limit of 75% on the first property loan for borrowers with no outstanding mortgages.
- CPF usage is governed by the CPF Board, which applies a Valuation Limit (VL) and a Withdrawal Limit (WL) based on remaining lease and age at the time of purchase. See CPF for Property in Singapore for full detail.
These four frameworks interact at almost every stage of the transaction. Understanding them in order prevents the most common mid-transaction surprises.
Resale Timeline Overview
Ten weeks is the fastest a Singapore resale condo transaction has closed end to end in 2026 (as of 2026-07); the full seven-stage process runs 10 to 16 weeks once bank valuation, mortgage approval, and CPF processing are folded in. Every stage runs on a fixed sequence for both sides of the table, and most of the deadlines inside it are set by statute rather than by negotiation.
Stage 1 — Preparation (week 1–3). The seller instructs a property agent and obtains a valuation; the buyer secures an In-Principle Approval (IPA) from a bank and confirms Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) exposure based on residency profile and existing property count.
Stage 2 — Option to Purchase (week 3–4). The buyer pays an option fee for a 14-day Option to Purchase (OTP), securing an exclusive right to buy at the agreed price.
Stage 3 — Exercise and stamp duty (week 4–6). The buyer exercises the OTP and has 14 days from the exercise date to pay Buyer's Stamp Duty (BSD) plus any ABSD to IRAS.
Stage 4 — Conveyancing (week 4–14). Lawyers on both sides run title searches, prepare the transfer, and coordinate mortgage discharge for the seller alongside new loan disbursement for the buyer.
Stage 5 — Completion (week 10–16). Funds are disbursed, the balance price is paid, any CPF refund is processed, and keys change hands on the completion date fixed in the OTP.
Work out your own numbers against the total transaction cost calculator before the OTP is signed, so both sides are negotiating from the same completion-day figures.
Buyer's Step-by-Step Process
A buyer's checklist runs longer than most first-timers expect, and financing the purchase after viewing a unit — instead of before — is the single most common reason an exercised OTP falls through.
- Get an In-Principle Approval (IPA). Apply with a bank before house-hunting; the bank stress-tests your income at the medium-term rate of 4.0% (as of 2026-07) against the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) cap of 55% of gross monthly income across all debt obligations.
- Confirm your ABSD profile. Your residency status and existing property count on the date you exercise the OTP — not the date you view the unit — fixes your Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty rate.
- Engage a property agent, or negotiate directly. If using an agent, verify their registration on the CEA public register of salespersons before signing an estate agency agreement.
- Pay the option fee and receive the OTP. A 1% option fee is standard market practice, held by the seller for a 14-day exclusive option period.
- Exercise the OTP. Pay the exercise sum within the option period — a further 4% under standard terms, for 5% total — to convert the OTP into a binding Sale and Purchase Agreement.
- Pay BSD and ABSD. Both are due within 14 days of exercise; late payment triggers IRAS penalties on top of the duty itself.
- Complete financing and legal work. Your lawyer lodges a caveat, and your bank finalises the mortgage for disbursement on completion day.
Reconcile your IPA quantum against your actual monthly outgoings before exercising — a loan that clears TDSR on paper can still leave a tight cash flow once condo maintenance fees are added.
Official reference: MAS guidance on the Total Debt Servicing Ratio.
Seller's Step-by-Step Process
Sellers carry a compliance burden buyers rarely see: a Seller's Stamp Duty clock that started on your own purchase date, and a CPF refund obligation that must be settled before a single dollar of sale proceeds reaches you.
- Check your SSD exposure first. If you bought on or after 4 Jul 2025, you're on the current 4-year schedule — 16%/12%/8%/4% by year, 0% after 4 years (as of 2026-07). If you bought before that date, the prior 3-year schedule of 12%/8%/4%, 0% after 3 years, applies to you instead.
- Get a valuation and set an asking price. Your agent or a bank-panel valuer benchmarks the unit against recent transactions.
- Grant the OTP. You receive the option fee and are bound to sell at that price for 14 days if the buyer exercises.
- Prepare your CPF and mortgage figures. Request a redemption statement from your bank and a CPF withdrawal statement so your lawyer can calculate exactly how much of the sale proceeds must be redirected before any cash reaches you.
- Coordinate mortgage discharge. Your bank lodges a discharge of the existing mortgage concurrently with the buyer's new loan disbursement on completion day.
- Settle the CPF refund and accrued interest. CPF Board is repaid the principal you withdrew, plus interest accrued at the Ordinary Account rate of 2.5% p.a. (as of 2026-07), computed from each withdrawal date to completion.
- Receive net proceeds on completion. Whatever remains after SSD, mortgage redemption, CPF refund, legal fees, and agent commission is paid to you.
See the CPF refund on sale guide for how the accrued-interest calculation is run line by line against your own withdrawal history.
Option to Purchase (OTP) Mechanics
The Option to Purchase is a single-page legal document, but three details inside it decide whether the sale finishes on schedule: the option period length, the exercise sum, and the completion date.
Option fee and period. A 1% option fee for a 14-day option period is standard market practice, though both figures are negotiable between the parties. The fee is non-refundable if the option lapses unexercised — the seller keeps it, and the sale ends there.
Exercising the option. Exercising within the 14 days converts the OTP into a binding contract, by paying a further sum under standard terms — commonly bringing the total deposit to 5%. The instant the OTP is exercised, two clocks start at once: the buyer's 14-day BSD/ABSD payment window at IRAS, and the seller's own SSD assessment, which is fixed against their original purchase date, not the sale date.
Completion date. The OTP fixes the completion date at 8 to 12 weeks after exercise for a resale unit with an existing mortgage to discharge; a seller with no outstanding loan can complete sooner.
Abortive and financing clauses. Most OTPs include a clause voiding the contract, with the deposit returned, if the buyer's home loan is refused despite a genuine application — this protects buyers from losing their deposit to financing outcomes outside their control. Read this clause before signing; it is the buyer's main safety net.
For the full sequence that follows exercise, see the OTP-to-completion conveyancing timeline.
Conveyancing & Legal Completion
Conveyancing is the unglamorous middle stretch of a resale transaction, but it is where legal ownership actually transfers — everything before it is only an agreement to transfer.
Title search and requisitions. The buyer's lawyer runs a title search at the Singapore Land Authority and lodges requisitions with the relevant town council or MCST to confirm the unit carries no outstanding charges, unauthorised renovations, or enforcement notices.
Caveat lodgement. Once the OTP is exercised, the buyer's lawyer lodges a caveat against the property title — this is what stops the seller from granting a second OTP on the same unit to another party.
Drafting the transfer. Lawyers on both sides prepare the instrument of transfer, the mortgage documents for the buyer's new loan, and the discharge of mortgage for the seller's existing loan, timed to complete simultaneously.
Completion day mechanics. On completion, the buyer's bank disburses the loan directly toward the seller's outstanding mortgage redemption, the buyer pays the balance cash/CPF portion, and the seller's lawyer releases the keys once funds are confirmed.
Legal fees. Conveyancing legal fees for a resale condo run S$2,500–3,500 (as of 2026-07) per side, scaling with price and complexity such as sub-sale chains or multiple mortgagees.
CPF & Loan Disbursement
CPF withdrawal rules cap how much of your Ordinary Account can go into a condo, and two limits are easy to conflate: the Valuation Limit and the Withdrawal Limit are not the same number.
Valuation Limit (VL). Set at 100% of the lower of purchase price or valuation at the time you buy (as of 2026-07) — CPF OA can fund the purchase up to this amount without restriction.
Withdrawal Limit (WL). Set at 120% of the VL. Between the VL and the WL, you may keep drawing CPF only if you have first set aside your Basic Retirement Sum (BRS) — S$110,200 for 2026 — in your CPF accounts, if you are below 55. Beyond the WL, CPF use stops entirely and the shortfall must be cash.
Accrued interest. Every dollar of CPF OA withdrawn accrues interest at the OA rate of 2.5% p.a. (as of 2026-07), compounded from the withdrawal date. This interest, not just the principal, must be refunded to your CPF account on sale — which is why a unit held for a decade can carry tens of thousands of dollars in accrued interest that quietly erodes cash proceeds.
Loan disbursement. On completion day the bank disburses the new mortgage directly toward the purchase price, and on the seller's side toward redeeming the existing loan — neither party personally handles the loan portion of the funds.
Model the CPF-versus-cash split for your own price point with the mortgage repayment calculator, and read the CPF Board rules on using CPF for property for the full withdrawal mechanics.
Stamp Duty & Costs Breakdown
Stamp duty is the line item that most often blindsides second-time buyers, because Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty can dwarf every other cost in the transaction combined.
Worked example. You're a Singapore Citizen (SC) buying a S$1,500,000 resale condo as your second property, funded partly by selling a condo you bought on 1 Aug 2023 for S$1,200,000 — now two years into ownership.
| Line item | Amount (S$) |
|---|---|
| Buyer — SC, second property | |
| BSD (effective 15 Feb 2023) | 44,600 |
| ABSD (SC, 2nd property, 20%, effective 27 Apr 2023) | 300,000 |
| Legal & conveyancing | 3,000 |
| Total upfront, excl. price | 347,600 |
| Seller — bought 1 Aug 2023, selling 2 years later | |
| Sale price | 1,500,000 |
| SSD (within 2 years, 8%, prior 3-year regime, bought before 4 Jul 2025) | -120,000 |
| Outstanding mortgage redeemed | -800,000 |
| CPF refund + accrued interest at 2.5% p.a. | -315,000 |
| Agent commission | -30,000 |
| Net cash proceeds | 235,000 |
The buyer's ABSD alone runs nearly seven times the BSD bill, and the seller nets barely a tenth of the S$1.5M sale price once SSD, the mortgage, and the CPF refund are all settled.
A seller who bought on or after 4 Jul 2025 and sells within 4 years owes SSD on top of the CPF refund obligation — run both figures before committing to a completion date. If the CPF refund plus accrued interest plus SSD exceeds the sale price, the shortfall must be topped up in cash to complete.
Model your exact BSD and ABSD position with the stamp duty calculator, and see how the current 4-year window changed seller economics in the SSD extended-to-4-years impact guide.
Official reference: IRAS rates for BSD, ABSD and SSD.
Common Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them
Most resale deals that stall or turn expensive fail at a handful of predictable points, and every one of them is avoidable with a day's more preparation.
- Exercising an OTP before financing is reconfirmed. An IPA is not a guaranteed loan approval — final approval is reassessed at exercise, so don't sign if your income documents have changed since the IPA was issued.
- Missing the 14-day stamp duty deadline. BSD and ABSD are due 14 days from exercise (as of 2026-07); IRAS charges a penalty on top of the duty itself for late payment, and the penalty compounds the longer it stays outstanding.
- Underestimating CPF accrued interest. Sellers who withdrew CPF a decade ago often forget the 2.5% p.a. compounding — the refund due can be materially larger than the original withdrawal.
- Confusing the two SSD schedules. Mixing up the prior 3-year regime with the current 4-year regime, effective 4 Jul 2025, leads sellers to under-budget stamp duty by an entire percentage tier.
- Skipping agent verification. An unregistered agent cannot legally represent you in a transaction — always check the CEA public register before signing an agency agreement.
- Not aligning completion dates. A seller simultaneously buying an upgrade unit needs both completion dates to line up, or risks needing bridging finance to cover the gap between selling and buying.
Run the full cost picture for your own numbers before committing to any date on paper — it is the fastest way to surface a pitfall while it is still cheap to fix.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a condo resale take?
A private condo resale runs 8 to 10 weeks from the date you exercise the Option to Purchase to legal completion, covering the option period, your lawyer's title and encumbrance checks, and mortgage disbursement. That's faster than an HDB resale because there's no HDB approval or eligibility check step to wait on — the process sits entirely between the two parties' lawyers and the bank. Complex cases, such as subsale restrictions or a buyer still awaiting loan approval, can extend this window, so build in buffer time rather than assuming the fastest-case timeline.
What is the OTP exercise period?
The OTP exercise period is the window during which you must exercise the Option to Purchase after paying the option fee to lock in the deal — standard practice sets this at 14 days and a 1% option fee, though both are negotiable between buyer and seller. Let the period lapse without exercising and the option fee is forfeited to the seller, with the deal off entirely, so use this window to finish your financing and due diligence rather than keep shopping around. Extensions require the seller's separate agreement and often cost an additional fee.
Who pays for the conveyancing lawyer?
Each party pays for their own conveyancing lawyer — there's no shared or split legal fee in a Singapore condo resale. The buyer's lawyer handles title and encumbrance checks, drafts or reviews the Sale and Purchase Agreement, calculates and lodges stamp duty, and coordinates your CPF and loan disbursement at completion, while the seller's lawyer manages discharge of the existing mortgage and the handover. Budget S$2,500 to S$3,500 in legal fees on the buyer's side (as of 2026-07).
What is the SSD rate for a condo purchased after 4 July 2025 and sold within two years?
Under rules effective from 4 July 2025, if you purchased a private residential property on or after that date and sell it within two years, the SSD rate is 12% of the sale price or market value (whichever is higher). Within year one the rate is 16%, year two is 12%, year three is 8%, and year four is 4%. No SSD applies if you hold beyond four years. Refer to IRAS SSD guidance for properties purchased before that date, which follow the old three-year regime at lower rates.
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