Mass market home prices have surpassed the previous 2008 peak. But because home loan interest rates remain at an all-time low, these homes are still seen as affordable, property consultancy DTZ said. Its head of South-east Asia research, Ms Chua Chor Hoon, said its mass market affordability index shows that such homes at the end of the first quarter of this year were more affordable, compared with the...
Interest Rates
Latest home-loan skirmish also sees banks speeding up their approvals A skirmish of sorts has broken out on the home loans front with banks pushing down their interest rates a notch or two over the past week or so. The first volley was fired by DBS Bank and the others have responded. This is welcome news for home owners and investors who are looking to re-price or refinance their home loans. The rates...
More people are looking to refinance their home loans in the past few months with lower interest rates, but not without difficulties. Key benchmark interest rates have been dropping since governments around the world embarked on their rate cutting campaign a few months ago to revive the slumping economy. As a result, the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (SIBOR) has more than halved in the past three to...
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...
Industry watchers expect more home owners to consider refinancing their mortgage loans as interest rates look set to dip further. In fact, mortgage and financial planning firm SingCapital has seen a three-fold jump in enquiries in the last two months. Property agents are also getting a crash course in mortgage planning, including answering questions about refinancing of home loans. This occurs when...
The Singapore Interbank Offered Rate or SIBOR is expected to dip a further 0.5 percentage point over the next six months. Industry watchers said this will present an opportunity for homeowners and companies to refinance loans on their properties. The US Federal Reserve recently cut its benchmark interest rate to 2.25 per cent in a bid to prop up the American economy. And this has indirectly put a drag...
With global interest rates trending downwards, some Singapore homeowners are hoping to see a similar move in mortgage rates. This is especially after the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (SIBOR) hit its lowest level in almost four years in late December - at 1.5 percent. However, some analysts have said that the banks may not be willing to lower rates, in light of the current volatility in global...