Singapore LTV Calculator

The 75 percent ceiling on a first loan

Loan-to-value is the share of a property's price or value a bank may lend you. In Singapore the Monetary Authority sets the ceiling, and for a first housing loan it is 75 percent. That single rule decides how much cash and CPF you need to find before you can buy. This calculator takes the property price, applies the LTV limit for the loan number you select, and breaks the purchase into the maximum loan, the down payment, and the minimum cash you must put down. It is for buyers running the numbers on affordability, working out whether they have enough liquid funds and CPF to clear the deposit on a particular flat or condo.

Splitting price into loan, down payment, and cash

Take the default of a $1,000,000 property on a first loan. At 75 percent LTV the bank lends up to $750,000. The down payment is the remaining 25 percent, or $250,000. Of that, at least 5 percent of the price, $50,000, must be paid in cash, with the balance payable in cash or from your CPF Ordinary Account.

The 5 percent minimum cash is a floor, not the whole cash cost. You will also need cash or CPF for Buyer's Stamp Duty, which on a $1,000,000 residential purchase runs into the tens of thousands, plus legal fees and valuation. Budget for those on top of the down payment shown here.

When the limit drops below 75 percent

The 75 percent ceiling is the best case. It falls to 45 percent for a second outstanding housing loan and 35 percent for a third or more, which is why property investors face such large cash requirements on additional purchases. The limit also drops to 55 percent if your loan tenure exceeds 30 years, or 25 years for an HDB flat, or if the loan extends past your 65th birthday. Here is the trap this tool surfaces but cannot fully model: the calculator always shows the minimum cash as 5 percent of price, yet that 5 percent figure is correct only for a first loan. On a second property loan the minimum cash portion is materially higher, so when you switch the dropdown to a second or third loan, read the loan and down-payment figures as accurate but verify the cash split with your banker, because the deposit you must find in cash rises steeply.

TDSR sits behind LTV

Passing the LTV test does not mean the bank will lend you the full 75 percent. A second limit, the Total Debt Servicing Ratio, caps your total monthly debt repayments at 55 percent of gross monthly income, and for HDB flats and executive condominiums the tighter Mortgage Servicing Ratio caps the home loan alone at 30 percent of income. Both are stress-tested at a medium-term interest rate floor of 4 percent, well above current rates, to check you could still afford the loan if rates rose. My practical tip is to run this LTV figure first to size the deposit, then check the same loan against TDSR, because many buyers who clear the deposit are still capped by their income on how much they can actually borrow. The binding constraint is whichever rule lets you borrow less.

Can I use CPF for the whole down payment?

Not for all of it on a bank loan. At least 5 percent of the price must be in cash; the remaining 20 percent of the down payment on a first loan can come from your CPF Ordinary Account or cash. HDB loans have different rules and can allow a larger CPF portion. Check how much your Ordinary Account holds before assuming it covers the non-cash share in full.

Does the LTV apply to the price or the valuation?

It applies to the lower of the purchase price and the bank's valuation. If you pay above valuation, the bank lends 75 percent of the valuation, not your price, and you must fund the difference, known as cash over valuation, entirely in cash. This catches buyers in hot markets, so always ask for the bank's valuation before committing to a price above it.