A $1,247,500 District 25 Condo Needs $346,375 Before The Loan — And Buyer Profile Moves The Stamp Duty Most

This is an illustrative example built on the quarter's median price and a stated buyer profile. It is not a real purchase, not a valuation of any home, and not advice on whether or how to buy. Every figure in it is computed from recorded transactions and the tax and financing rules recorded as in force.

A median price tells you where a market sits. It does not tell you what it takes to get in, or what five years of holding costs. So we ran one worked example through our position engine and looked at each step on its own.

According to URA Data Service caveats, District 25 (Woodlands, Kranji) recorded 24 sales of 60 to 99 sqm private units in 2Q2026. The median was $1,247,500, which is +11.4% y-o-y against $1,120,000. Our example is a Singapore citizen, first home, owner-occupier, aged 35, with a household income of $18,000 a month and a bank loan over 25 years. Every figure below is indicative and comes from recorded transactions and the rules in force, as computed by this site's own engine.

The median rests on only 24 sales in the quarter

Start with the number everything else hangs on. The median price in District 25 was $1,247,500 in 2Q2026. That works out to a median of $1,301 psf, on a median size of 980 sqft. A year earlier the median was $1,120,000, so the change is +11.4%.

The count matters here. Twenty-four sales is a small base for a median, and the district mixes different projects and unit types inside the 60 to 99 sqm band. A few larger or smaller units could shift the figure from one quarter to the next. The table below shows the sales behind the median. It does not show which projects they came from, so the y-o-y change reads as a quarter-on-quarter-style snapshot of this sample, not a verdict on every home in the district.

Stamp duty is $34,500 and the cash needed before the loan is $346,375

Here is the purchase at the median. For a Singapore citizen buying a first home, buyer's stamp duty is $34,500. Additional buyer's stamp duty is $0 at 0%, so stamp duty in total stays at $34,500.

The maximum loan is $935,625, which is 75.0% of the price. That leaves a minimum cash payment of $62,375 and a further $249,500 that can be paid in CPF or cash. Add stamp duty to those two and the total before the loan comes to $346,375.

The table below lays out each line. It is a snapshot at one price. Legal fees and other costs going in are not in this table. We pick them up in the five-year hold cost further down.

The loan limit is set by loan-to-value, not by the income tests

Three limits apply to the loan. Loan-to-value allows $935,625. The TDSR allows $1,875,580. The MSR allows $1,023,043. The lowest of the three binds, and in this example that is the loan-to-value limit. The income tests leave room above it.

The monthly instalment is $4,437 at 3%. That is 24.6% of the stated income. At the 4% stress rate used for the TDSR test, the instalment is $4,939.

The example uses the stated $18,000 a month and nothing else. It does not include other debts or changes in income, and the table below does not either. Another household would see different TDSR and MSR limits, though the loan-to-value limit depends only on the price and the loan profile.

Holding the home for five years costs $227,123, and interest is the largest line

The engine then adds up a five-year hold. Interest over the five years is $130,596 at the 3% rate, taken from a standard amortisation schedule. Property tax and maintenance come to $28,292. Costs going in, including stamp duty and fees, are $37,770. Costs coming out are $30,466. Together that is $227,123.

The exit costs assume 2% commission and $3,000 in legal fees, plus 9% GST. Property tax is worked on an assumed annual value of $42,840. The model holds the home's indicative value where it stands today, so the table below carries no price change of its own.

On that basis the break-even figure is 18.6%. That is the change in price over the five years that would cover the $227,123. It is a measure of the costs in the table, not a statement about where prices are heading.

The same price carries very different stamp duty depending on who is buying

Our example is the lightest case. We ran the same $1,247,500 through four buyer profiles. Buyer's stamp duty is $34,500 for all of them. The difference is the additional buyer's stamp duty. A citizen on a first home pays 0% and a total of $34,500.

A permanent resident on a first home pays 5%, which is $62,375 in ABSD and $96,875 in total. A citizen on a second home pays 20%, which is $249,500 in ABSD and $284,000 in total. A foreigner pays 60%, which is $748,500 in ABSD and $783,000 in total.

The loan-to-value cap also moves with the profile. The citizen second home carries a 45.0% cap, against 75.0% for the other three. The table below sets out all four side by side.

The figures leave a few things open. The median rests on 24 sales, and the next quarter's count and median in 3Q2026 will show whether it holds. The rates also come from versioned rules, and the newest applied here took effect on 2025-07-04. If a rule changes, every figure in the tables above changes with it.

A single worked example is rarely enough on its own. It shows one buyer at one price in one district. The value lies in how it fits the broader direction of the market, and we will keep reading it against the next quarter's data.

Method: an illustrative example, not a real purchase. The price is the median of the quarter's recorded sales named. The buyer is a Singapore citizen first-time owner-occupier aged 35. The stated household income is S$18,000 a month, with no other debt. The loan is the maximum, over 25 years at 3%. Stamp duty, loan limits, instalments and the five-year hold cost are computed by this site's position engine under the rules recorded as in force for the quarter. The rule versions used are bsd 2023-02-15, absd 2023-04-27, ssd 2025-07-04, ltv 2024-08-20, tdsr 2022-09-30, property_tax 2025-01-01, costs 2020-01-01. Further assumptions: sale at today's indicative mid value after 5 years. Seller pays 2% commission and S$3,000 legal fees, plus 9% GST. Mortgage interest from a standard amortisation schedule at the given rate. An executive condominium within its five-year minimum occupation period, so the 30% mortgage servicing ratio applies as well as TDSR. Loan of S$935,625 (75% of the price), the maximum available. Property tax on an assumed annual value of S$42,840 (85% of market rent). Maintenance at the configured norm. Rates are versioned data in config/rules.yaml, checked against IRAS and MAS publications on 2026-09-18. The newest version applied here took effect 2025-07-04. Rules change with each cooling-measure round. Private figures are from URA Data Service caveats, HDB figures from data.gov.sg resale records, both loaded weekly by this site's ingest. Medians are of the non-excluded transactions in the period named. Sales flagged by the hygiene rules (related-party transfers, bulk deals, outliers) are left out. Every figure is indicative and drawn from recorded transactions, not a formal valuation.