If you own an HDB flat and want a private home, a condo or a landed house, there are two orders: sell the flat first and then buy, or buy the private home first and then sell the flat. This article uses a condo as the example; the stamp duty and loan rules below are the same for landed homes. Selling first keeps you clear of Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) but leaves a gap where you need somewhere to live. Buying first lets you move once, but a married couple who are Singapore Citizens pays ABSD upfront and gets it back only if the flat is sold within six months, on conditions IRAS sets.
Both orders start from the same gate. HDB's rule: "Before you and your spouse can acquire private residential property, you have to fulfil the MOP of your flat."
The two orders side by side
The figures below use one example: a married couple, both Singapore Citizens, buying a $2,000,000 condo, with a 25-year loan and the older buyer aged 40. They are worked out from IRAS and MAS rules as published on 30 Oct 2026.
| Sell the HDB flat first | Buy the condo first | |
|---|---|---|
| Property count when you buy | First property | Second property |
| ABSD on the condo | None | 20%, so $400,000, paid upfront |
| Can the ABSD come back? | Nothing to refund | Yes, if every IRAS condition below is met |
| Buyer's Stamp Duty on the condo | $69,600 | $69,600 (the same in both orders) |
| Loan-to-value limit, if the condo loan is your first housing loan | 75%, with at least 5% in cash | Not this case |
| Loan-to-value limit, if the HDB loan is still running | Not this case | 45%, with at least 25% in cash |
| Where you live in between | Rent or stay elsewhere, unless your buyer agrees to let you stay on (below) | You move straight from the flat to the condo |
ABSD is the larger sum, and it is refunded when the conditions below are met. The lower loan limit is not: if your HDB loan is still outstanding when you take the condo loan, the bank lends a smaller share of the price, and more of it has to come from your cash and CPF.
Buying first: the six-month clock
IRAS refunds the ABSD to a married couple who buy their second home before selling the first, if all six conditions hold. In IRAS's words:
- "The couple must include a Singapore Citizen and the property must be purchased under both names of the couple only."
- "The married couple did not own interest in more than one residential property each at the date of purchase of the second residential property."
- "The first residential property (co-owned or separately owned) is sold within 6 months after the date of purchase of the second property for completed property or the issue date of the Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) / Certificate of Statutory Completion (CSC), whichever is earlier, if the property was uncompleted at the time of purchase."
- "The married couple remains married and there is no change of ownership in the second residential property at the time of sale of the first residential property."
- "The married couple has not purchased or acquired any other residential property since the purchase of the second residential property."
- "The application for refund of ABSD is made within 6 months after the date of sale of the first residential property."
IRAS is firm on the timing: "an extension of the six-month timeline will not be acceded to."
When the six months start depends on whether the condo is completed when you buy it.
- A completed condo (resale). The six months start from the date you buy it. The flat sale has to complete inside that window.
- A new launch that is still being built. The six months start from the date the project gets its Temporary Occupation Permit or Certificate of Statutory Completion, whichever comes first. You keep living in the flat while it is built and sell once the condo is close to ready.
Selling first: what you trade for the lower bill
Selling first keeps the condo as your first property, so there is no ABSD to pay or reclaim, and the loan limit is the higher one. What you give up is continuity: the flat sale and the condo purchase rarely line up to the day, so many families rent or stay with relatives for a few months. Price your stay into the plan before choosing this order.
Staying on in the flat after it is sold
HDB lets a seller stay on in the sold flat for a short time, if the buyer agrees. HDB's terms set who it is for:
"A Temporary Extension of Stay is only for flat Sellers who need time to move from the Flat they sold to a Property in Singapore they have bought for their next housing. The Property purchased must be completed and ready for occupation, i.e. not in the process of construction."
The limits, from the same terms:
- Up to three months. "The Temporary Extension of Stay period shall not be more than three (3) months from the Resale Completion Date and there shall be no further extension beyond the 3-month period."
- Asked for at the start. "The request for Temporary Extension of Stay shall be submitted with the resale application."
- Only if your buyer agrees. The request "is subject to the Buyers agreeing to allow the Sellers to stay temporarily in the Flat after the resale completion of the Flat and HDB granting approval to this private arrangement."
- Any payment is separate from the price. The two sides may agree on "monetary compensation and any other mutually agreed considerations", but "the resale price of the Flat cannot incorporate any intended or prospective monetary compensation".
So the extension works only when your next home is already completed, such as a resale condo; it does not cover a new launch still being built. Your buyer also has to agree to it, and to any compensation, before the resale application goes in.
Some timeline pitfalls
Three dates decide whether either order works: the completion date of the flat sale, the completion date of the condo purchase, and the end of any extension of stay. If you buy first, all three also have to fall inside IRAS's six-month window. Each date is agreed with a different party: your flat's buyer, the condo's seller and the banks.
An agent's work here is to settle those terms in the right order, before anything is signed: the completion dates, whether your buyer allows an extension of stay, and the compensation for it, so that the dates fit the window and you move once.
Questions buyers ask
Can we stay in the flat after selling it while we wait for a new launch to be completed?
No. HDB's extension of stay is only for sellers whose next home is "completed and ready for occupation", and it lasts no more than three months.
Is ABSD refunded automatically when we sell the flat?
No. IRAS requires an application within 6 months after the date of sale of the first property.
We are buying as one owner, not as a couple. Does the remission still apply?
No. This remission is for a married couple buying under both names only, so it does not cover a single buyer.
Does the remission apply to Singapore Permanent Residents?
The couple must include a Singapore Citizen. If neither spouse is a citizen, this remission does not apply.
Can we use the six-month window if we are buying a new launch?
Yes. For a property bought before completion, the six months run from the date its TOP or CSC is issued, whichever is earlier.
Before you choose
Which order suits you comes down to your cash at each step: the stamp duties, the share the bank will lend, and where you live while the sale completes. If you would like the figures worked out for your own flat and budget, start a brief and we will go through both orders with you on a short call.
Rule figures checked against IRAS, MAS and HDB on 30 Oct 2026. Rates and conditions can change; IRAS, MAS and HDB are the authorities on your own case.