mr funny
03-11-10, 18:33
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,4574,411182-1288727940,00.html?
Published November 2, 2010
Home loan applications fall 20% at OCBC
Portfolio should continue to expand in coming months, but at slower pace
By CONRAD TAN
(SINGAPORE) Applications for home loans at OCBC Bank have dropped by a fifth since the government announced new measures to cool the property market on Aug 30, chief executive David Conner said yesterday.
But its home-loan portfolio should continue to expand in the coming months, albeit at a slower pace, Mr Conner said.
That's because the bank has a pipeline of existing loans taken out by new-home buyers in the past two years that are being progressively drawn down as the properties are completed.
'Housing loan applications are down about 20 per cent, after the August measures. That isn't necessarily a clear indicator of how the mortgage loan book will grow,' he told reporters at a briefing on the bank's earnings yesterday.
'For the last 18-24 months, there have been lots of launches of properties that were going to be completed over a three-year period, so the borrowers would have ongoing completion payments to make, so they would draw on loans.
'That's a significant part of the book, which continues to grow because the drawdowns to pay for the properties continue to increase.'
The bank's mortgage book also includes loans to borrowers that switch from other banks and refinance their home loans with OCBC; such loans would be drawn down immediately.
'On the whole, we still expect the total outstanding to continue to increase, but at a slower rate,' OCBC chief financial officer Soon Tit Koon said.
OCBC's housing-loan portfolio grew 5.6 per cent over the third quarter to $25.9 billion at end-September, driven mainly by increased lending in Singapore and Malaysia. Over the year, housing loans were up 28.3 per cent.
Housing loans have been the biggest driver of Singapore-dollar bank loan growth throughout the economic downturn, and the recovery since.
Housing loans contributed 80 per cent of the growth in total Sing-dollar loans by banks here over the two years to end-September, according to BT calculations based on Monetary Authority of Singapore data.
At OCBC, housing loans - including those outside Singapore - contributed 30 per cent of its overall loan growth over the same period, BT's calculations show.
At rival United Overseas Bank, which has a much bigger housing-loan book of $32 billion at end-September, the growth in home loans actually exceeded the overall increase in the bank's loans over the two-year period, as lending to other sectors such as manufacturing and building and construction shrank.
Published November 2, 2010
Home loan applications fall 20% at OCBC
Portfolio should continue to expand in coming months, but at slower pace
By CONRAD TAN
(SINGAPORE) Applications for home loans at OCBC Bank have dropped by a fifth since the government announced new measures to cool the property market on Aug 30, chief executive David Conner said yesterday.
But its home-loan portfolio should continue to expand in the coming months, albeit at a slower pace, Mr Conner said.
That's because the bank has a pipeline of existing loans taken out by new-home buyers in the past two years that are being progressively drawn down as the properties are completed.
'Housing loan applications are down about 20 per cent, after the August measures. That isn't necessarily a clear indicator of how the mortgage loan book will grow,' he told reporters at a briefing on the bank's earnings yesterday.
'For the last 18-24 months, there have been lots of launches of properties that were going to be completed over a three-year period, so the borrowers would have ongoing completion payments to make, so they would draw on loans.
'That's a significant part of the book, which continues to grow because the drawdowns to pay for the properties continue to increase.'
The bank's mortgage book also includes loans to borrowers that switch from other banks and refinance their home loans with OCBC; such loans would be drawn down immediately.
'On the whole, we still expect the total outstanding to continue to increase, but at a slower rate,' OCBC chief financial officer Soon Tit Koon said.
OCBC's housing-loan portfolio grew 5.6 per cent over the third quarter to $25.9 billion at end-September, driven mainly by increased lending in Singapore and Malaysia. Over the year, housing loans were up 28.3 per cent.
Housing loans have been the biggest driver of Singapore-dollar bank loan growth throughout the economic downturn, and the recovery since.
Housing loans contributed 80 per cent of the growth in total Sing-dollar loans by banks here over the two years to end-September, according to BT calculations based on Monetary Authority of Singapore data.
At OCBC, housing loans - including those outside Singapore - contributed 30 per cent of its overall loan growth over the same period, BT's calculations show.
At rival United Overseas Bank, which has a much bigger housing-loan book of $32 billion at end-September, the growth in home loans actually exceeded the overall increase in the bank's loans over the two-year period, as lending to other sectors such as manufacturing and building and construction shrank.