The revised mortgage refinancing rules do not represent an easing of the property cooling measures, said MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will not ease the property cooling measures which have caused home prices to drop by almost 10 percent anytime soon, reported Bloomberg.
MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon explained that last week’s relaxation of mortgage refinancing rules by the central bank is aimed at easing the debt burdens of homeowners, and not create demand for new home loans.
“This doesn’t represent an easing at all,” he said. “If you look for a prop up to the market, this is not going to help as it doesn’t apply to new loans. This is to improve financial prudence without creating new demand for housing loans. We won’t ease anytime soon.”
Last week, the MAS announced that households refinancing their existing mortgages would be exempted from the 60 percent cap under the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework. However, the exemption only applies to owner-occupiers.
Home sales and prices in Singapore have slowed since the government introduced housing curbs in 2009, with some of the strictest measures introduced in 2013, including higher stamp duties on residential acquisitions and the TDSR framework.
The authorities have repeatedly said they are not ready to ease the curbs, despite rising unemployment and slowing economic growth. Home values in the city-state have fallen by 9.4 percent from its peak in 2013.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
