Beginning this year, a friend asked me what I thought about interest rates. My reply was it should not exceed 1% this year and 2% next year. Of course, I was referring to the US federal fund rate instead of Singapore housing loan rates. Still, when the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (SIBOR) shot up to 1% in Mar, I was quite surprised. Now, I think I know the reason why.
Before explaining the reason, let us first understand the basics of Singapore housing loan rates. There are 2 ways of getting a SGD loan. The first and most straightforward way is to borrow in SGD and repay in SGD. This is the basis for SIBOR loans. The bank that loans you the money will borrow from other local banks at the SIBOR rate and loan you the money with a spread above SIBOR, e.g. SIBOR + 0.75%. The ......