In 2022, mortgage rates have surged beyond our expectations. What if borrowers can’t pay? On November 25, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) published the Financial Stability Review 2022. It stated that most households appear to be resilient to interest rate shocks. The proportion of non-performing mortgage loans is likely to remain low. On the contrary, the OCBC Financial Wellness Index 2022 released on November 22 told us the exact opposite. It showed that 40 percent of Singaporeans are struggling to pay their mortgage loans. One is from a government authority. Another is from Singapore’s top three mortgage bank. Which report should we trust?

40 percent Singaporeans have difficulty paying mortgage

The OCBC report is the results of the local bank’s annual online survey. It asked 2,182 working adults personal finance questions that we normally won’t ask. Below is the summary of the survey findings: 1) Singaporeans are strong savers,...