Neither is better in every case. A home bought under construction spreads your payments over several years and lets you choose a new unit early, but you wait for the keys and buy from plans. A completed home lets you see exactly what you are getting and move in within weeks, but the full price is due almost at once. The right choice depends on when you need to move, how your cash and loan are arranged, and how much you want to inspect before committing.
How the money moves
For an uncompleted private home bought from a developer, payment follows the progressive payment scheme set by the Housing Developers Rules. You pay 5% when the option is granted and a further 15% within eight weeks. From then on, loan money flows to the developer in tranches, each tied to a building milestone, from the foundations through to the two completion certificates at the end. You pay interest on drawn sums alone, which keeps early repayments low before they climb.
For a completed home, there are no construction stages. The down payment and the loan are drawn together at completion of the purchase, and the full instalment begins straight away.
The progressive payment scheme guide lists every stage and its share of the price, and the progressive payment calculator shows the monthly bill at each step for a price you choose.
Waiting time
A new launch is typically sold three to five years before the keys are handed over. That suits a buyer whose current lease or home runs for several more years, or one planning around a child's school start. It does not suit someone who needs to move this year.
Completed homes have no wait beyond the legal process. In this guide, the completed homes page lists developments that are already built with units still available, such as Cape Royale and Seascape at Sentosa Cove, and Draycott 8 off Draycott Park.
Some launches sit between the two. A project that is well advanced when it opens for sale shortens the wait: Lentoria has vacant possession scheduled by 2 July 2027, and The Hillshore by 30 June 2027.
What you can see before you sign
With a completed home you can walk through the actual unit, check the view and the noise at different times of day, look at the common areas as they really are and speak to residents. Defects in a resale home are yours once you complete, so an inspection matters.
With an uncompleted home you rely on the show units, the floor plans, the specification schedule attached to the contract, and what the developer has built before. In return, the unit is new, and the developer must repair faults you notify within twelve months of vacant possession, the defects liability period.
Risks to weigh
**Construction and delivery.** Projects can run late. The contract fixes deadlines for handing over the unit and for completing the sale, and the standard form compensates buyers for delay past them. Choosing an established developer reduces, but never removes, this risk.
**Your own circumstances.** A lot can change in four years: income, family size, interest rates. With an off-plan purchase you are committed to a home you will not live in for some time, and the instalments grow as the loan is drawn.
**Rates and financing.** With a completed home, your full loan is exposed to interest rates from day one. With an uncompleted home, only the released portion is, which softens the early years but leaves more of the loan to be priced later.
Stamp duty and other costs
Both stamp duties, BSD and any ABSD, must reach IRAS within a fortnight of the option being exercised, new home or not, and they come out of cash first. The stamp duty calculator for private homes gives the amount for your profile. A completed home bought on the resale market may also involve a fee for the buyer's agent, which a direct developer sale does not.
Choosing the unit itself
An early buyer at a launch gets the widest choice of stacks, floors and layouts, which is a real advantage when a particular facing or floor matters to you. The trade-off is that you choose from floor plans and a show unit rather than from the finished space.
A buyer of a completed home chooses from what remains, but sees the actual light, view and noise for each unit. In a development that is well sold, the remaining units may be limited to certain layouts or floors.
It helps to list your must-haves before you visit: number of bedrooms, a quiet side away from a main road, a floor high enough for a view, or a ground-floor unit with garden space. Then you can judge quickly whether the stage of a project suits your list, rather than letting availability decide for you.
Choosing between them
Lean towards an uncompleted home if you can wait, prefer to ease into repayments and want a brand-new unit with a defects warranty. Lean towards a completed home if you need to move soon, want to see exactly what you are buying, or are planning around a known date such as a school year.
Whichever you choose, start with the loan. The home loan and TDSR calculator shows what your income supports before you shortlist anything, and the new launches, open for sale and completed pages in this guide group projects by exactly this stage.
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