Frequently asked questions
What are Singapore's property cooling measures?
Singapore's property cooling measures are a series of government policy changes — chiefly Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD), Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD), the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework and Loan-to-Value (LTV) limits — introduced and adjusted since 2009 to moderate demand in the housing market. PropKaki's Cooling Measures Event Study lists ten such announcements from 2009 to 2023 alongside the official price, rental and transaction-volume series around each date.
Do cooling measures lower property prices?
This page does not make that claim. It reports what the official URA price index, URA rental index, HDB Resale Price Index and transaction volumes show in the four quarters before and after each announcement — observed movement around the policy date, not an estimate of what would have happened without it. Many factors move at the same time, including interest rates, the supply pipeline and global economic conditions, so the figures should be read as context rather than as proof of cause and effect.
What were the major Singapore cooling measure dates?
PropKaki's Event Study tracks ten announcements: September 2009 (interest absorption scheme withdrawn), August 2010 (SSD extended, LTV lowered), December 2011 (ABSD introduced), January 2013 (ABSD raised, LTV tightened), June 2013 (TDSR framework introduced), March 2017 (SSD eased), July 2018 (ABSD raised, LTV tightened), December 2021 (ABSD raised, TDSR tightened), September 2022 (medium-term interest rate floor raised) and April 2023 (ABSD raised to 60% for foreign buyers).
What happened to the URA price index around the 2023 ABSD increase?
The table on this page shows the URA private price index (ppi_all) four quarters before and four quarters after Q2 2023, when ABSD for foreign buyers was raised to 60%, computed by PropKaki from URA's official quarterly index. The same window is shown for the HDB Resale Price Index, the URA non-landed rental index, and private and HDB resale transaction volumes — read together as observed movement, not a causal estimate.
Why "observed movement" instead of "impact" or "effect"?
Because isolating the effect of a single policy change from everything else moving in the economy at the same time — interest rates, the supply pipeline, employment, global markets — requires a causal model this page does not attempt. "Observed movement" describes exactly what the official series did in the surrounding quarters, which is verifiable and source-cited; "impact" or "effect" would imply a counterfactual PropKaki has not estimated.
Where do the figures come from and how often are they updated?
All series are official: the URA private residential price and rental indices and transaction volumes (Urban Redevelopment Authority via data.gov.sg), and the HDB Resale Price Index and resale transaction volumes (Housing & Development Board via data.gov.sg). The same series already power the PropKaki Singapore Private Residential and HDB Resale Market Trackers and are re-ingested automatically every week.
Is the Cooling Measures Event Study free?
Yes. It is free on propkaki.sg, with no paywall and no account required, as part of PropKaki's public market data layer operated by Straits Intelligence Pte. Ltd.