Financing

Requesting for mortgage debt forgiveness – essential steps you should follow

Mortgage debt seems to be the biggest debt for the Americans. While talking about mortgage debt forgiveness, you need to know that every lender will not agree to forgive your debt. However, there are few lenders who will agree to forgive mortgage-debt. The mortgage lender will forgive only a small portion of your debt. With proper budgeting and by keeping a track on your spending, you will be able to...

HSBC offers portability in benefits for its home loans

HSBC is shaking up the home-loans market here by offering a so-called benefits portability feature in such loans. It is enabling its home loan customers who sell their property to continue from where they left off on the sliding interest rate spread on their new home loans. For example, if a customer sells the property in the third year of the loan, he can enjoy a first year loan interest rate of 1.69...

Govt won’t intervene as loans still available to property developers

The Singapore government will not step in to underwrite existing bank loans to property developers for now. This is because loans and other financing options are still available despite the current credit crunch, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan in Parliament on Monday. The economy is facing a difficult recession, but Singapore property developers may have been spared the brunt of the...

Maybank rolls out lowest rate

IN A bid to increase its slice of the housing pie, Maybank has rolled out a three-year fixed-rate loan package with first-year interest at 1.6 per cent - the lowest of its kind in Singapore. With second- and third-year interest at 2.2 and 2.9 per cent respectively, that works out to an average of 2.23 per cent per annum over three years. This is even lower than the HDB‚s concessionary rate of 2.6 per...

Do your homework

Some mortgage rates are rising; shop around before making a choice As global interest rates fall, you would expect more homeowners to be tempted into taking up mortgages pegged to the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (Sibor) or Swap Offer Rate (SOR). After all, the three-month Sibor rate is currently around 0.68 per cent - just shy of its all-time low of 0.63 per cent. However, instead of resulting in...

REITs face refinancing risks from credit crunch

Investment trusts are losing their attraction as good defensive options for investors in the current turbulent markets. As lending from banks begins to dry up, these trusts are facing refinancing difficulties. Analysts said their once attractive yields no longer seem as enticing, and real estate investment trusts (REITs) are no exception. REITs that have the backing of sponsors such as Mapletree and City...

Sibor spike not a cause for worry?

A SPIKE in the three-month Singapore interbank offered rate (Sibor) may spell higher housing loan rates for some, but mortgage experts say there is no cause for worry given the low base enjoyed by home owners for the past few months. The benchmark Sibor, the rate at which banks lend to each other, for three months fell as low as 1 per cent in August. Amid recent financial turbulence, it soared from 1.76...

Not to Do(s) When Financing / Refinancing

If you are looking to finance or refinance your home, here are a few things NOT TO DO: Don’t Kick The Tires. How much you put down, credit affects your interest rate. It drives lenders crazy to pick up the phone and be asked what their best rate is. How much you put down on your home and how good your credit is directly affecting the interest rate on your loan. You can shop for rates, but be prepared to...

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