By Dennis Ng

From Aug 30 2010, regardless of whether you're a Singaporean, permanent resident or foreigner, if you have an existing housing loan on a property - whether the property is in Singapore or overseas - the maximum financing you can get for your property purchase has been revised downwards to 70 per cent from 80 per cent previously.

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And also from Aug 30, 2010, if you have an existing housing loan, and if you want to purchase another property, the minimum cash downpayment has been revised to 10 per cent from 5 per cent previously.

Thus, if you have an existing housing loan and are thinking of buying a property, it is time to re-work your numbers. And you might need to put off the decision to buy a property for the time being if you do not have the required minimum 30 per cent downpayment for the property, as the maximum financing has been reduced to 70 per cent.

However, if you have an existing property that is fully paid, and have no outstanding housing loan, and if you buy a property, you can still get up to 80 per cent financing.

The above measures on the cash downpayment and 70 per cent financing limit apply to all property purchases with date of option to purchase dated Aug 30 or later.