By Nikki De Guzman:
The number of home loan applicants buying private property without any outstanding loans continued to increase in Q1 2013, according to Credit Bureau Singapore (CBS).
According to analysts, this implies that the seventh round of cooling measures implemented in January have discouraged consumers from buying multiple properties.
During the first quarter of 2013, lending and refinancing to Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) buying private property reached 16,208 mortgages. Of this, 65 percent did not have any existing mortgages, up from 58.3 percent in the same period last year. It also surpassed the 61 percent recorded for the whole of 2012, which in turn was up from 56.4 percent the year before and 53 percent in 2010.
In contrast, the proportion of private home loans for second or third property purchases is declining.
“We observe that the number of home loan borrowers with only one home loan has increased in Q1 2013 compared to last year, as the series of property cooling measures have discouraged multiple property purchasers,” said Phang Lah Hwa, OCBC Bank’s Head of Consumer Secured Lending.
Nikki De Guzman, Junior Reporter at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email nikki@propertyguru.com.sg
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