Buying a flat in Singapore

Hi there, Yes you are able to purchase a private apartment. First of all, will you be looking to buy the house under your single name? Do note there will be an Additional Buyer Stamp Duty (60%) imposed on foreigner purchase. There are exemptions if you are citizens of the below countries. https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/stamp-dut … greements-(ftas)You will not be able to purchase any public housing flat (HDB Flat) if you do now have a singaporean spouse. Hope that helps. Valerie (Singapore Realtor)

Yes, foreigners in Singapore can buy "private property" (as opposed to governmental housing or "HDB", which constitute about 90% of all property in Singapore), but not "landed property" (meaning single houses on a piece of land, which are rare in densely populated Singapore anyway).

The cost of "private property" is far higher than the (price-controlled) HDBs and exceed the costs in most other cities worldwide. Do not expect a bargain - several millions for a small flat are common!

In addition, as a foreigner you will not get a mortgage. So do you have enough cash?

Another aspect of the matter: Owning a property here does NOT give you a visa to live in it. To do so, you would need a visa on other grounds (e.g. working here - there is no visa option for retirees!).

@Valerie Tan

Thank you.  I did have a look at the government pages.  Could I get an idea what it might cost to buy a small flat or studio?

Just a pied-a-terre actually and I would not want to be in an expensive area - just a basic "newish" location with potential for a good return over time............. 

@zanaja There are only very few small apartments or studios in Singapore, as it does not fit the social structure (one person households are rare). Count yourself lucky if you find one below a million S$. The abovementioned 60% special tax for foreigners goes on top of this, plus other transaction and realtor fees.

(3-room HDB flats cost about half of this, but you are not eligible to buy one.)

@Valerie Tan Thank you. Clearly, I need to give this more thought :-)

@beppi  Thanks indeed for the useful info.  I looked on the govt. pages and tried to find which countries are "preferred" but the page was blank :-(  So, if i understand correctly, buying a small flat is OK but living in it is not.  Can I assume that it would be OK to stay for brief visits?; like for how long?  (European passport).

@zanaja You get a 30 days visa on arrival, which is extendable pretty easily for another 30 days by giving a valid reason (and for a third 30 days only with very good reasons, like medically unfit for travel).

There is no fixed rule for how often and after which period away you can come back and get another 30 days, but they will deny you entry or allow only a shorter stay if they have any suspicion that you are (ab-)using a tourist visa to in fact live here - or even worse work illegally

@zanaja You can only buy private houses if you are not buying with a singapore spouse. You are not eligible to buy government HDB flats.

It pretty much depends on location in Singapore, distance to public transport, amenties etc. A 1-bedroom apartment in town will now be over SGD1m whereas you are still able to find 1-bedroom apartment under SGD800k at the outskirt areas. Newer apartments will also be priced higher than the older ones. These pricings are before the foreigner additional buyer stamp duty.

As to where is a good investment, it takes time to analyse based on yr budget and the potential of the development be it rental yield or capital appreciation in the long run.