New Launch vs Resale Condo in Singapore
Both are private condominiums and both are taxed the same way. What separates them is when you pay, when you can live in it or let it out, and how much you can check before you commit. This page sets the two side by side on the things that actually differ.
Which one suits how you buy
The choice between a new launch and a resale condominium is usually framed as new versus old. That is the least useful way to look at it. The real differences are when you pay, when you can live in it or rent it out, what protection you have if something is wrong, and how much of the unit you can actually inspect before you commit.
Side by side
| New launch | Resale | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Staged over the build, per the statutory progressive payment schedule | Option fee, then the balance on completion, typically 8–12 weeks later |
| Cash needed at the start | 20% of price within about 8 weeks of the option | Full down payment and stamp duty inside the same short window |
| Loan drawdown | Staged, so interest accrues only on what has been drawn; the instalment starts small and climbs | Full loan disbursed at completion; full instalment from month one |
| When you can move in | At TOP, typically three to four years out | On completion, typically within three months |
| When it can earn rent | Nothing until TOP | Immediately, or on the existing tenancy |
| If something is defective | Twelve-month defects liability period from vacant possession, with 5% of the price held by the Singapore Academy of Law behind it | Bought as it stands; no developer warranty |
| If the floor area is short | Price reduced where the surveyed area is more than 3% below the contracted area | Area is already on the title; verify it before you sign |
| What you can inspect | A show unit and a floor plan | The actual unit, the actual view, the actual noise, at the actual time of day |
| Choice of stack and facing | Full choice at launch, narrowing fast | Whatever happens to be on the market |
| Stamp duty | Identical rules | Identical rules |
The payment schedule is the real difference
On a building under construction the price is drawn down against construction milestones, so your bank disburses in stages and you pay interest only on what has been drawn. In the first year that can mean an instalment of a few hundred dollars a month, rising as the building goes up. On a completed resale unit the full loan lands at once and the full instalment starts immediately.
That matters in two directions. If you are still paying rent or servicing an existing home, the staged schedule is far easier to carry. If you need the property to produce income now, three to four years of paying without receiving is the cost of the new launch.
Schedule set out in Form 5 of the Housing Developers Rules. The stage-by-stage table is on our condo buying costs page.
Protections a new launch buyer has and a resale buyer does not
- Twelve-month defects liability period from the date vacant possession is delivered. The developer has to put right what is wrong.
- A retention of 5% of the price held by the Singapore Academy of Law until the Final Payment Date twelve months after vacant possession, net of anything withheld for defects that have not been rectified.
- Protection on floor area. If the final surveyed area comes in more than 3% below the area stated in the sale and purchase agreement, the price is reduced for the shortfall beyond that 3%. The developer gets no adjustment the other way if the area comes in larger.
Sources: Housing Developers Rules, Form 5; URA Home Buyers' Guide.
Protections a resale buyer has and a new launch buyer does not
You can stand in the unit. You can see what the window actually faces, hear what the road actually sounds like at six in the evening, and check the water pressure. You can read the management corporation's accounts, the sinking fund balance and the minutes, and find out what the block is arguing about. You can see the actual maintenance charge rather than an estimate. None of that is available from a floor plan and a scale model.
Two rules that apply to both, and surprise people
Seller's Stamp Duty runs from the option, not from the keys
Since 4 July 2025 the SSD holding period is four years, at 16% / 12% / 8% / 4% by year. The period runs from the date the option is exercised. For a new launch completing in three years, that usually leaves you about a year of SSD exposure after you get the keys — not four. For a resale unit the four years starts almost immediately and runs while you live there.
Sources: Ministry of Finance; IRAS.
Letting a new launch option lapse is not free
The developer may forfeit 25% of the booking fee, and may not re-issue an option on the same unit to the same buyer for twelve months. Booking a unit to think about it has a price and a lockout.
Source: URA Circular COH20-03.
So which one
There is no general answer, and anyone giving you one is not looking at your position. The questions that decide it are: do you need somewhere to live now or in three years; do you need the property to produce income before then; how much cash can you put down in the first two months; and how much does it matter to you to see the actual unit before you buy. Tell us which of those bind and we will show you only the stock that fits.
Where this fits
For entry price per square foot across the launches we are marketing, see our new launch condo psf comparison. For the full cost breakdown including stamp duty, loan-to-value and the payment schedule, see condo buying costs in Singapore. For what the floor area on a plan actually includes, read condo floor plans explained. Every project we are marketing is compared on our new launch condo hub, and our resale and rental stock is at condos for sale in Singapore.
Rates and rules on this page are current as at September 2026 and are reproduced from the official sources linked beside each section. They change. Nothing here is tax, legal or financial advice — check your own position with your conveyancing lawyer and your banker before you commit. Finest SRI is part of SRI Pte Ltd, agency licence L3010738A; every listing is handled by a CEA-registered salesperson.