Singapore banks’ exposure to mortgage loans has increased to 34.5 percent, according to a report by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Strong demand for homes has resulted in 20 percent housing loan growth on a year-on-year basis this year, since hitting a low record early last year, said the report.
While it is too early to assess the impact of the property measures implemented in end-August, outstanding housing loans have moderated slightly on both a quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year basis. Several local banks said that new mortgage applications have dropped between 20 percent and 36 percent since the measures were announced.
Given the strong growth since 2009, mortgage loans now account for approximately 34.5 percent of domestic banking unit (DBU) non-bank loans, up from 32.1 percent since 2004, said the MAS.
Meanwhile, more than 70 percent of housing loans were for owner-occupied properties, which are likely to see lower risk profile. Negative equity mortgages represented less than 1 percent of outstanding mortgages as of September this year, down from a peak of close to 3 percent in September last year.
The share of mortgages with loan-to-value of more than 80 percent fell to 7.1 percent as of September this year, down from 17.3 percent over the same period last month.