Looking to welcome the year of the horse in a new home? Here’s where you should be by now

As the Year of the Horse gallops closer, many Singaporean families are gearing up to welcome a new beginning – one filled with energy, stability, and good fortune. For many, that fresh start means moving into a new home before Chinese New Year (CNY).

If that’s your goal, you’re now at a key checkpoint in the homebuying timeline. By early November, the groundwork – like securing your HFE Letter or Approval-in-Principle (AIP) from your bank, should already be in motion. At this stage, your focus should be shifting from paperwork to property viewings and securing your Option to Purchase (OTP) within the next few weeks.

Here’s a look at where you should be on the timeline, and what comes next, if you’re still aiming to start the Year of the Horse in your new home.

Why moving before Chinese New Year matters so much

For many families, moving before the Lunar New Year isn’t just about convenience – it’s a tradition rooted in meaning. It symbolises a clean slate, where you leave behind the old and welcome the new with open arms.

In Chinese culture, a home represents stability and fortune. That’s why so many people make it a goal to settle in before the festive season. It’s also why you’ll often hear about families conducting rituals like the pineapple rolling ceremony – where someone rolls a pineapple into the house while saying “Ong lai,” which means fortune comes.

However, timing is everything. Since Chinese New Year falls on February 17, 2026, you’ll want to move in well before that. Ideally, your household should already be cleaned, decorated, and settled by early February – around February 1. That gives you enough time to unpack, prepare for reunion dinner, and perform your auspicious rituals before the celebrations begin.

Missing this window doesn’t just mean logistical stress – it can also feel like missing the emotional and spiritual renewal that comes with starting the year right.

Your action plan to move in before CNY 2026

If you’re serious about moving into your new home before the Year of the Horse, here’s a practical look at where you should be now – and what’s coming up next:

If you’ve already applied for your HFE or AIP and are ready to start viewing properties, this next month is your make-or-break window.

A buyer’s first critical step: Getting your approvals in order

One of the biggest mistakes buyers make, especially when racing against the CNY deadline, is waiting until they’ve found the right home before starting on the paperwork. It may seem harmless, but in reality, this delay can throw your entire timeline off course. The truth is, it’s not your house-hunting pace that determines when you can move in – it’s the administrative process that sets the clock.

Before you even begin shortlisting properties, you’ll need to make sure your eligibility and financing are in order. These two approvals – the HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) Letter and the Approval-in-Principle (AIP) or In-Principle Approval (IPA), are the foundation of your home purchase. Without them, your transaction simply can’t move forward. 

Your quick pre-transaction checklist:

1. For HDB buyers: The HFE Letter

If you’re planning to buy an HDB resale flat, securing your HFE Letter is the first and most crucial step. This document confirms that you’re eligible to buy a resale flat, apply for grants, and take an HDB loan.

However, the processing time isn’t short. Once you’ve submitted your completed application and supporting documents, you can expect to wait about 21 working days, or roughly a full month, before receiving your letter.

It’s also important to complete the process carefully – you must finish both the preliminary check and full application (Step 2) within 30 calendar days. All household members involved must sign electronically and upload the necessary documents. Missing this deadline means your application will lapse, forcing you to start all over again.

Considering that the HDB resale transaction itself, from OTP to key collection, already takes 10 to 12 weeks, adding in the HFE’s four-week processing time means you’re looking at a total timeline of at least 16 weeks. That’s why the HFE application should be your starting point – ideally launched mid-September to stay on track for a CNY move-in.

2. For bank-financed buyers: The AIP/IPA

If you’re buying a private property or taking a bank loan for your HDB flat, your first priority should be to get an Approval-in-Principle (AIP) or In-Principle Approval (IPA) from your bank.

This pre-approval tells you exactly how much you can borrow and for how long, giving you a clear idea of your budget before making any offers. It also helps you avoid the financial surprises that can occur after securing your OTP.

While banks generally move quickly, the AIP process can take a few days to a week, depending on your income, credit score, and financial history. But remember, the approval is only valid for about 30 days. During this time, it’s best to keep your finances stable – avoid applying for new credit cards or taking on new debt – as these can affect your loan eligibility.

Having your AIP ready by mid-October 2025 means you’ll be in a strong position to act fast once you find the right property.

Navigating the HDB resale buying timeline

The HDB resale process follows a strict, step-by-step timeline that leaves very little room for error. Once you’ve secured your OTP, which is valid for up to three weeks, both you and the seller must submit your parts of the resale application to HDB. 

From there, every stage that follows is time-sensitive and must be carefully managed to avoid delays.

The fixed 8-week period

From the moment your resale application is submitted, the process typically takes between 8 to 12 weeks to complete. In most cases, HDB will take around 2 weeks to review and approve your application once all the required documents are in order.

After that approval, the final stretch begins – the completion phase, which usually takes another 8 weeks. This period covers the final checks, fund transfers, and appointment scheduling before you collect your keys. That means 8 weeks is the earliest possible timeframe for completion once HDB has accepted your application.

So, if you’re hoping to move in before Chinese New Year 2026, that 8-week window becomes your most critical countdown.

Working backwards to stay on track

To meet a target move-in date of February 3, 2026 and give yourself time to settle before the festivities, you’ll need to plan every stage carefully.

If you count back 8 weeks from early February, your HDB application should be accepted by early December 2025, ideally by December 9. Before that can happen, you’ll need an additional 2 to 4 weeks for earlier steps such as exercising your OTP, preparing documents, and submitting your application.

That means the OTP should be secured and exercised by mid- to late November 2025 at the latest.

Here’s where the process can get risky: both buyer and seller must submit their parts of the application within 7 calendar days of each other. If either party misses this window, the application lapses, and you’ll need to restart the process – including paying new application fees.

Because of how tight this schedule is, even a small delay in communication or document submission can push your timeline beyond your target completion date. And once that happens, your move-in will almost certainly fall after Chinese New Year.

Navigating the private property buying timeline

Buying a private resale property may come with more flexibility than an HDB transaction, but it’s also a more legally complex process. Because every step involves multiple parties – from lawyers to banks to valuers – private transactions often take longer overall. From securing your OTP to collecting your keys, the entire journey usually spans 10 to 15 weeks.

Conveyancing timelines and key legal milestones

Once you’ve exercised your OTP, the legal conveyancing period typically runs between 8 to 12 weeks. During this time, your appointed law firm will handle all the formalities – from verifying the property title to arranging the fund transfers and final completion.

Unlike HDB transactions, the OTP for private properties is valid for a much shorter time – often just two weeks. Within this brief window, you’ll need to engage a conveyancing lawyer to start the legal process and pay your Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD), which is due within 14 days of exercising the OTP.

If you want to complete your purchase and move in before Chinese New Year, it’s best to work backwards. Assuming a 12-week conveyancing period (to account for potential delays), you should aim to exercise your OTP by mid-November 2025 – around November 17. That means you’ll need to have found and secured your property by late October 2025.

Financing and valuation: Managing the risks

Private property timelines are highly dependent on how quickly your bank and lawyer can move. One of the biggest risks lies in the financing stage. You’ll need to obtain a formal Letter of Offer (LO) from your bank during the two-week OTP window – a step that requires a property valuation to be completed swiftly.

Typically, a valuer will visit the property within three working days, and the full valuation report should be ready within a week. But if the valuation comes in lower than your agreed purchase price, you may need to adjust your financing or renegotiate the price – both of which can cause serious delays. When you’re racing to move in before CNY, even a short delay at this stage can derail your entire schedule.

And it’s not just valuation that can slow things down. Private transactions are especially vulnerable to the year-end holiday slowdown. Many law firms and banks operate with reduced staff in December and January, which means fund transfers and completion appointments can take longer than usual. Even if everything is on track, these closures can easily push your handover into late February or March 2026, well past the festive deadline.

Beware the December Effect: The hidden bottleneck

Even with the best preparation, there’s one challenge that catches many buyers off guard – the December Effect. 

This refers to the year-end slowdown that happens every fourth quarter, when holidays, office closures, and reduced operations across industries create unavoidable bottlenecks.

While a typical home transaction might take 8 to 12 weeks under normal conditions, this timeline stretches easily once November rolls around. The last two months of the year bring seasonal slowdowns that affect everything from document processing to fund transfers, putting transactions that start after October at risk of spilling into the new year.

Every year, property transactions slow down drastically in the final months. While buyers may still be active, the supporting infrastructure like lawyers, banks, CPF, and even HDB officers, all operate at reduced capacity.

Law firms, for example, often close for the holidays from late December to early January, while many conveyancing officers take their annual leave during this period.

The impact of this slowdown can be huge. A one-week delay in December doesn’t just add seven days to your timeline – it can create a ripple effect that delays completion by two to four weeks. That’s because any task scheduled during this period, like document submission or fund transfer, can get stuck in the queue until everyone returns to work in January.

So, if your key administrative deadlines fall between mid-December and early January, you’re almost guaranteed to miss the CNY move-in target.

Why acting early is the best way to secure your fresh start

When it comes to property, timing isn’t just about market prices – it’s also about process and preparation.

Between pre-approvals, eligibility checks, conveyancing, and completion, the homebuying journey takes at least three to four months even in perfect conditions.

If you’ve already done your groundwork and are now in the house-hunting stage, this next month is your critical window. Every decision and submission counts – and staying proactive could make all the difference between celebrating Chinese New Year in your new home or watching the festivities from your old one.

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