SINGAPORE — The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has widened the existing exemptions from the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) to cover the refinancing of loans for owner-occupied properties that were bought before the measure was introduced last year.
10 FEBRUARY
SINGAPORE — The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has widened the existing exemptions from the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) to cover the refinancing of loans for owner-occupied properties that were bought before the measure was introduced last year.
In a statement, the MAS said it had received feedback from borrowers who have faced challenges refinancing such loans.
Under the revised rules, borrowers with more than one property loan will now be exempt from meeting the TDSR threshold when refinancing the mortgage of the homes they are residing in. The revision applies only to properties that were bought before June 29 last year, when the TDSR was introduced and the move was taken to help “ease the debt servicing burden of these borrowers”, the MAS said.
The Mortgage Servicing Ratio (MSR) will also not apply to the refinancing of loans for HDB flats and Executive Condominiums that are owner-occupied and were purchased before the respective MSR implementation dates of Jan 12, 2013 and Dec 10, 2013.
A similar concession will apply to loan tenures. In such cases, borrowers whose loan tenures for their owner-occupied residential properties exceed the current limits will allowed to maintain the current tenure when refinancing the loan.
Source: TodayOnline (10 February 2014)