🏠📊 Singapore's rental market is becoming more balanced.

In Q2 2026, private residential rents rose 0.7%, even as the islandwide vacancy rate increased to 6.4%. More available homes are giving tenants greater choice, while landlords face stronger competition to secure quality occupants.

What this means:

🏡 Tenants have more options to choose from
📉 Landlords may need to price more competitively
📈 Well-located and well-maintained homes continue to perform best
🤝 Realistic pricing remains key to minimising vacancy

Whether you're renting out your property or looking for your next home, understanding current market conditions can help you negotiate with confidence.

🔗 https://propertynet.sg/singapore-private-rents-q2-2026-vacancy-6-4-percent-landlords-tenants/

📌 A balanced rental market benefits both landlords and tenants. Success comes from staying informed and adapting to changing conditions.

🏢📈 Looking for commercial property outside the CBD?

Woods Square sits at the heart of Woodlands Regional Centre, offering strata-titled office space alongside retail, F&B and childcare facilities. It is also just a short sheltered walk from Woodlands MRT Interchange and Causeway Point.

Why commercial buyers are taking notice:

🚇 5-minute covered walk to Woodlands MRT
🏢 Strata office ownership from around 549 sqft
🛍️ Integrated with retail, F&B and childcare
🇲🇾 Strong connectivity towards Malaysia and the future RTS Link
🏙️ Positioned within Woodlands Regional Centre's long-term transformation
📈 Increasing business and employment activity expected in Singapore's Northern Gateway

The bigger story is the location.

Woodlands Regional Centre is being developed as Singapore's Northern Gateway, with more than 100 hectares of land planned for business, industry, research and lifestyle uses.

🔗 https://propertynet.sg/commercial-benchmark/woods-square/

📌 Commercial property isn't just about rental yield today. The surrounding business ecosystem, connectivity and future growth of the precinct can be equally important.

🏡⏳ Bought your next home before selling your existing property?

For some married couples, ABSD remission can make a huge difference, but the timeline is strict.

If an eligible Singaporean married couple jointly purchases a second residential property, they may qualify for an ABSD refund if they sell their first property within 6 months of purchasing the second property, subject to IRAS' conditions. IRAS specifically states that extensions to the 6-month sale timeline will not be granted.

A recent Tampines upgrader case highlights why the timeline matters.

The key planning points are:

📅 Know your exact ABSD remission deadline
🏡 Start marketing the existing property early
💰 Understand your potential ABSD exposure before buying
📊 Price the first property realistically to secure a buyer
⏱️ Allow enough time for negotiation and completion

For an upgrader, the goal isn't simply to buy the next property quickly. It's to coordinate the sale, purchase, financing and ABSD timeline properly.

🔗 https://propertynet.sg/tampines-upgrader-couple-absd-remission-deadline-close-call-2026/

📌 ABSD remission is valuable, but the deadline is not flexible. If you're relying on the refund, your sale strategy should start before you buy.

🏡💰 What happens when your HDB selling price is lower than your CPF refund?

This is something many homeowners misunderstand.

If your HDB is sold at market value, but the selling price is not enough to cover both the outstanding housing loan and the CPF amount that needs to be refunded, you generally do not have to top up the CPF shortfall in cash. The CPF refund is limited to the remaining sale proceeds after repaying the outstanding loan.

For example, a homeowner may see:

💵 Selling price
🏦 Less outstanding housing loan
📋 CPF refund required
💰 Remaining cash proceeds

If the CPF refund exceeds what is available after repaying the loan, the shortfall isn't automatically a cash debt to CPF, provided the property was sold at market value.

This is why understanding your actual sale proceeds before listing your HDB is so important.

Before selling, check:

📊 Current market value
🏦 Outstanding loan
💵 CPF principal + accrued interest
💰 Estimated cash proceeds
🏡 How much you can actually use for your next property

🔗 https://propertynet.sg/hdb-negative-sale-cpf-refund-exceeds-selling-price-2026/

📌 A lower sale price doesn't automatically mean you need to write a cheque to CPF. But knowing the numbers before you sell can make a huge difference to your next property decision.

ST 16/8/2026 - Buyer of $5m house dragged into seller's family court dispute

ST 16/8/2026 - Home purchases can stall if buyers get dragged into legal minefields

OpenAI steps up Singapore footprint, in talks to lease 100,000 sq ft in Shaw Tower

Meanwhile, OpenAI’s biggest rival Anthropic has also set up shop in Singapore, leasing about 100 desks within The Executive Centre facility at Ocean Financial Centre in Collyer Quay.

https://bt.sg/LNdR

🍻 92 bars & clubs in Clarke Quay have been approved to extend liquor trading hours to 4am on all Thursday & Friday nights.

RIP to my Friday & Saturday mornings.

➡ https://bit.ly/4wZPgF5

Follow us @mothershipsg

Planning to try the RTS Link to JB? A new pedestrian link will also be built to connect Bukit Chagar station directly to Malaysia's KTM trains, making onward trips to Kuala Lumpur and other Malaysian cities easier. https://cna.asia/4gALP1Q

Developer sales pick up in July with 731 new homes sold, mainly from 2 launches
Dunearn House and Lentor Gardens Residences are the month’s only major new projects

Abiel to convert three Geylang Road shophouses into 'micro-residences' for rent

Read: https://www.edgeprop.sg/property-news/abiel-convert-three-geylang-road-shophouses-micro-residences-lease?utm_source=Telegram

RTS Link in final testing; fare and launch date to be announced soon

ST 19/8/2026 - Luxury eldercare from $8k a month at S'pore's first private assisted living project

BT 19/8/2026 - Father-and-son duo Raj Kumar and Kishin in exclusive due diligence to buy Scotts Square

ST 19/8/2026 - RTS Link in final testing; fare and launch date to be announced soon

Man, 53, arrested in Toa Payoh after allegedly threatening dad with knife for wanting mum to take TCM

“He pointed the knife at me, and I immediately called the police,” the man's 82-year-old father said.

🔪 https://stmp.sg/cVyk

@stompteam

MAS adds new asset-management incentives as competition from Hong Kong heats up

“We will do what it takes to maintain and uphold the competitiveness of our financial services industry,” notes Chee Hong Tat, minister for national development and the deputy chairman of MAS.

https://bt.sg/4s4oo

🏠Co-living is emerging as a housing option for young adults in Singapore seeking independence, but home ownership will remain the end goal, say observers. https://cna.asia/4zr3Jf1

Are you interested in a co-living space?