CPFB | Selling your home: before vs after age 55

Selling your home: before vs after age 55

Here’s what happens to your sale proceeds when you sell your home.

21 Aug 2024
SOURCE: CPF Board

In a nutshell:

· Upon selling your property, you will need to refund the CPF principal amount you have withdrawn to pay for the property and the accrued interest you would have earned if these savings were left in your OA.

· If you have pledged the property to make up your Full Retirement Sum, you will also have to refund the amount pledged as well.

· You can use your CPF housing refund to pay for another property, leave it in your OA to earn risk-free interest, or transfer to your SA for higher retirement payouts.

Thinking of putting your home up for sale, and working out how much CPF you can use for your next property?

Here’s what happens to your money after you sell your home.

Infographic showing the CPF housing refund process when selling your house

Upon selling your property, you will need to refund the following to your CPF accounts:

· The CPF principal amount (P) you have withdrawn to pay for the property;

· The accrued interest (I) —this is the amount you would have earned if these savings were left in your OA; and

· If you have pledged the property to make up your Full Retirement Sum (FRS), this amount will need to be refunded together with the P+I.

What happens to my CPF housing refunds?

If you are below age 55, the refunds will be credited to your Ordinary Account. If you are 55 years old or older, your refunds will be first used to top up your Retirement Account (RA) to your FRS. Any balance housing refund will remain in your OA.

Tip

You may withdraw your RA monies above your BRS (excluding interest earned, government grants and any top-ups made under the Retirement Sum Topping-Up Scheme) for your personal needs if you own a property. Note that doing so will reduce your retirement income.

What can you do with your CPF refunds to your OA?

You can choose to:

A) Leave them in your OA for your next property purchase (subject to applicable housing rules and limits) or to pay another housing loan; or

B) Keep them in your OA to earn risk-free interest; or

C) Transfer them from your OA to your Special Account (if you are below age 55) or Retirement Account (if you are aged 55 and above) to earn higher interest and for higher retirement payouts.

If you are 55 years old or older, you also have the additional option to withdraw the refunds in cash for your immediate needs.

Tip

While living in your property, you can make voluntary housing refund(s) and enjoy risk-free interest rates on your CPF savings.

This also means that you would not have to refund as much and would receive more cash proceeds upon the sale of your property. By restoring your CPF this way, you can be better prepared to meet your retirement needs in your golden years.

Find out the amount you need to refund to your CPF when you sell your house

Visit the Home Ownership Dashboard to find out the exact amount that you would need to refund to your CPF account upon the sale of your house. Simply log in using your Singpass to get started.

Information accurate as of the date of publication.