Calm by design.
If London is a market you navigate, Singapore is a market you curate. The city-state’s residential landscape is shaped deliberately by policy and planning to deliver stability, social cohesion, and long-term investability. That design philosophy, not one-off headlines, is the real story of 2025.
Policy that prioritises homes and filters speculation.
Singapore’s macro-prudential brakes keep leverage sensible and cycles shallow. The Total Debt Servicing Ratio is capped at 55%, limiting total monthly debt obligations and discouraging over-extension.
On the demand side, Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) is the loudest signal: foreign buyers pay an additional stamp duty of 60% above the base rate, on any residential purchase (post April 2023), with calibrated tiers for citizens and permanent residents. The intent is clear while capital is welcome; homes come first.
Planning that creates durable value.
The Draft Master Plan 2025 translates long-term land use into district-by-district intent, with more parks, identity corridors, and mixed-use nodes that marry livability with economic growth.
Catalysts are already dated and sequenced. Cross Island Line phases are under construction (CRL2 targeted for 2032), expanding east-west connectivity and deepening the “20-minute city” logic.
Longer-term, Paya Lebar Air Base will be relocated from the 2030s, unlocking a vast new mixed-use town in the east, one of Asia’s most ambitious brownfield transformations.
Market pulse: measured, liquid, investable.
Price action is steady rather than spectacular. Private home prices rose 0.8% q/q in Q1 2025 and 1.0% q/q in Q2 2025; within that, the Core Central Region (CCR) gained 3.0% q/q in Q2 while rentals ticked up modestly. Year-to-date gains are in the low single digits—consistent with a market engineered for calm.
Launch activity ebbs and flows by project, with new-home sales volumes normalising after blockbuster quarters, yet remaining above 2024 levels on a like-for-like basis.
What this means for UHNW buyers.
- Buy for end-user magnetism, not headline yield. In a durability-first market, freehold or long-lease projects with strong management, efficient floor plates and adjacency to top schools and MRT interchanges command the deepest liquidity—particularly in Orchard Road, Bukit Timah, Holland Village, Sentosa and the East Coast. (Map your short-list to Master Plan and rail catalysts.)
- Consider “Singapore first, purchase second.” Many globally mobile families lease prime for 12–24 months to road-test school runs, commute patterns and neighbourhood fit before committing capital, being pragmatic when ABSD materially affects entry pricing.
- Use the full toolkit. If your thesis is Singapore exposure without triggering residential ABSD, consider commercial assets (e.g., pure-commercial shophouses), where ABSD does not apply; note that mixed-use with a residential component can still attract ABSD on the residential portion. Governance and structuring matter—treat them as part of the investment, not an afterthought.
- Family-office alignment. Singapore remains a premier hub for SFOs under Sections 13O/13U tax incentive schemes, with evolving guidance on AUM and local-spend requirements—useful context for cross-border capital planning tied to residence, schools and philanthropy.
Llanover International’s counsel.
- Curate by policy. We anchor searches to the Draft Master Plan 2025 and CRL catchments—because in Singapore, planning is price.
- Optimise entry. We model ABSD/TDSR impacts, MCST governance and service-charge discipline to ensure the asset reads well at exit.
- Sequence with sense. Lease where appropriate, then acquire—quietly—once neighbourhood conviction is earned.
- Diversify your Singapore expression. Blend a primary residence with selective commercial or fund exposure where it suits your balance sheet and family-office structures.
Singapore in 2025 offers rule of law certainty, long-term urban stewardship, and a clear separation between shelter and speculation. Less thrilling than volatile markets—and far more reliable for family wealth. For families comparing London, Dubai, and Singapore, we position the Lion City as a core, capital-preservation base with selective upside from planning-led transformation—purchased with purpose, held with patience, and chosen for how your family will actually live.