Pursuits

No End in Sight for Slide in Singapore Home Prices as Rates Rise

  • Housing loan rate benchmark more than doubles in a year
  • Home prices seen set for biggest annual drop since 2001
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Rising borrowing costs and a weaker currency bode ill for Singapore’s home prices amid their longest slide in more than a decade.

The three-month Singapore interbank offered rate has more than doubled in a year to the highest since 2008. The main benchmark for housing loans is seen rising further as it narrows the gap with the swap offer rate, a measure of borrowing costs influenced mainly by exchange-rate expectations. The spread reached the widest since 2009 as the Singapore dollar slumped 6.3 percent this year.