http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...lumes-20140802
DBS mortgage growth remains resilient despite falling volumes
Published on Aug 2, 2014 12:56 AM
HOME loans have stayed resilient for DBS Bank amid a struggling property market coping with a slew of cooling measures.
DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta said yesterday that he was "a bit surprised" mortgages continued to see positive growth despite falling volumes.
"Earlier, we thought the mortgage growth would slow down to $2 billion to $2.5 billion growth for this year.
"Actually, we grew $2 billion in the first half. So, we're now looking at getting the mortgage growth in the book by about $3.5 billion for this year, which would make it the same as last year."
Mortgage growth at DBS for the year is expected to stand at about 9 per cent, in line with the rest of the bank's portfolio, Mr Gupta added.
DBS housing loans came in at $50.82 billion at the end of June, up 2 per cent from $49.85 billion at the end of March.
Mr Gupta also said that the bank's non-performing loans (NPL) were "substantially lower than what was reported yesterday".
Rival United Overseas Bank had said on Thursday that its NPL for Singapore mortgages was $80 million for the three months to June 30, owing to weak payments by high-end property buyers.
Such buyers likely purchased the homes for investment or speculative purposes.
One reason Mr Gupta cited for DBS' home loans doing better than expected is that its percentage of owner-occupied loans comes at a high 85 per cent, likely better than the market average.
New bookings for DBS home loans in the second quarter went up by 28 per cent compared with the previous quarter, though it dropped by between 35 per cent and 40 per cent year on year.
Data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed private home sales rose to 2,665 units in the second quarter, up from 1,744 units in the year's first three months.
MOK FEI FEI