Starting the house buying process can be an intimidating one, especially if you’re unfamiliar with home loan acronyms like Singapore Overnight Rate Average (SORA), Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (SIBOR) and Singapore Swap Offer Rate (SOR). But hey, no worries. If you’re looking to familiarise yourself with these mortgage terms, you’re at the right place!
To get you started, here’s a helpful article on SORA vs SIBOR vs SOR and what these rates mean for your home loans. But if you already have an idea of what those interest rates are, let’s deep-dive into the most relevant of the three, SORA.
Read on to find out more or jump ahead to select parts of the article:
- Why you should pay attention to SORA
- What is SORA?
- Should you pick floating or fixed rate home loans?
- Why you should consider a SORA-pegged home loan in 2023
- Available SORA home loans in Singapore
Why Pay Attention to SORA: The New Recommended Benchmark
In a nutshell, SORA, SIBOR and SOR represent three of Singapore’s industry-wide benchmark interest rates used to determine the floating interest rates of bank loans. Here’s the good news, though: chances are, you’ll only need to think about SORA-pegged bank loans, in the coming future.
In line with the phasing out of the scandal-tainted London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), Singapore is phasing out SIBOR and SOR to ensure greater trust within the industry. Phasing out SIBOR and SOR by 2024 and 2021 respectively, SORA will be the new standard benchmark interest rate used from 2022 onward.
So if you’re a future homebuyer looking to take up a floating rate bank loan, you’ll get your pick of various SORA (and possibly SIBOR) floating rate packages to finance your home. And if you’re an existing homeowner who has a SIBOR-pegged package, you can consider switching to a SORA-pegged loan as SIBOR will gradually be phased out.
But first, let’s understand…
What Is SORA?
SORA reflects the volume-weighted average rate of borrowing transactions in Singapore’s unsecured overnight interbank SGD cash market between 8am and 6.15pm. This rate is published on the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s website at 9am the next day, and it is this rate that will be the basis of your bank loan’s interest rates.
1M SORA Vs 3M SORA
If you opt for the floating rate SORA packages, you’ll get to choose between 1-month compounded (1M SORA) and 3-month compounded (3M SORA) SORA loan payments. The difference between the two packages? You’re choosing how often your loan interest rates are ‘refreshed’.
For a 1M SORA home loan package, your interest rates will be renewed every month depending on SORA rates compounded within a month. The same goes for a 3M package, but for every three months. So depending on whether you’re getting a 1M SORA or 3M SORA, your interest payments will fluctuate monthly or quarterly.
Now that we understand what SORA is, let’s get into why you should consider getting a SORA home loan. But before that, we need to consider…
Floating Vs Fixed Rate Home Loans: Which to Pick?
If you’re a first-time homeowner buying a private property, you have to finance your home purchase with a bank loan. For those who are existing homeowners, you may be considering refinancing your home loan, especially if your current loan is pegged to the SIBOR.
Regardless of your situation, you’ll be choosing between several home loan packages – including floating rate packages (i.e. SORA home loan packages). Between floating vs fixed rate home loans in Singapore, which should you pick?
The short answer: it depends on the current market outlook and your specific financial situation.
What Is the Benefit of a Floating Rate Home Loan?
One thing to consider before opting for floating-rate house loans like SORA is the greater saving opportunities! As interest rates change, there may be periods where interest rates fall (e.g. during a recession). Opting for a floating-rate house loan would give you an advantage should interest rates fall.
However, taking a chance on floating-rate housing loans also means you will need to be aware of market uncertainties before taking the leap. As such, the changing nature of monthly interest rates may only benefit those with a good risk appetite.
Singapore’s mortgage interest rates tend to follow that of global interest rates, and that includes SORA rates. On 14 December 2022, the US Fed raised interest rates for the seventh time this year, moving the benchmark borrowing rates to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%. Correspondingly, mortgage interest rates for both fixed and floating home loans have been on the rise.
With interest rates increasing, your floating-rate house loan interest rates might be much higher than those who opted for fixed-rate housing loans… for now. According to PropertyGuru Singapore Property Market Outlook 2023, mortgage interest rates are likely to moderate in the second half of next year.
Why You Should Consider a SORA Home Loan in 2023
But you’re here to learn more about SORA home loans. Here are a few reasons why you should consider a SORA home loan.
1. SIBOR and SOR Are Being Phased Out
As previously mentioned, SIBOR will be phased out by 2024, and SOR will be phased out by 2021. With the cessation of the USD London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), SOR will officially no longer be available after 30 June 2023. When these benchmark rates are no longer in use, what happens to your home loan if they’re pegged to these rates?
One, your bank would offer you another floating rate package with them (e.g. SORA home loan), and you may be subject to prevailing fees and terms (i.e. a longer-than-you-would-like lock-in period). Or, you could be left to find another home loan to finance your home purchase.
Either way, you don’t want to be caught in a situation where you have to scramble to find a mortgage package. The new mortgage interest rate you secure may be unfavourable to your financial needs or goals.
Additionally, you may get caught in technicalities when the benchmark rate is phased out (we’re already dreading all the paperwork you would have to deal with). You want to pick a SORA home loan when you can, and not when you have to.
2. SORA Home Loans Can Provide Greater Saving Opportunities
Mortgage packages that have interest rates based on compounded rates (i.e. SORA home loans) tend to see more gradual change and be less volatile.
The 3M Compounded SORA hit 3.0937% on 14 December 2022, way higher than the 0.1949% on 4 January 2022 (which is the first SORA publication date of the year). In comparison, the 3M SIBOR was 4.25179% on 7 December 2022, as compared to 0.437% on 3 January 2022.
For existing homeowners with SIBOR home loans, your net loan rates have probably exceeded 4.5%, taking into account your bank’s interest rate spread. And you’re probably feeling the pinch.
If you want to review your mortgage package and save on interest or learn more about SORA home loans, you can reach out to our mortgage experts for help – at no cost!
3. SORA Is a More Transparent and Robust Benchmark for Mortgage Loans
SORA is administered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) whereas SIBOR is computed by the Association of Banks in Singapore Benchmarks Administration Co. (ABS Co.) which currently comprises 17 participating banks.
SORA is a backward-looking rate as it uses the average rate of actual interbank lending transactions that happened the day before. Meanwhile, SIBOR is a forward-looking rate because it considers the rates major banks intend to borrow at.
What this means is that SIBOR may not accurately reflect the actual expectations among all the various banks across Singapore; SIBOR takes the average of a few banks, ignoring the lower and higher percentile/values.
Plus, unlike SIBOR, SORA does not depend on international interest rates. This makes SORA more stable and accurate as compared to SIBOR. As such, SORA is more transparent and serves as a uniform benchmark that borrowers can use to easily compare various mortgage packages.
SORA Home Loans in Singapore
Depending on the market outlook and your personal financial situation, a SORA home loan might just be for you.
Some banks that have SORA home loans include DBS, Citibank, OCBC, UOB, Maybank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, and RHB Singapore. The offered mortgage packages each bank has differ. You can use the PropertyGuru mortgage comparison tool to browse available mortgage packages.
For more information on the latest mortgage packages and interest rates, reach out to one of our friendly mortgage experts at PropertyGuru Finance. They can also provide you with tailored financial advice, all at no cost!
Chat with us on Whatsapp
Fill up an online form
Disclaimer: Information provided on this website is general in nature and does not constitute financial advice.
PropertyGuru will endeavour to update the website as needed. However, information can change without notice and we do not guarantee the accuracy of the information on the website, including information provided by third parties, at any particular time. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is accurate, individuals must not rely on this information to make a financial or investment decision. Before making any decision, we recommend you consult a financial planner or your bank to take into account your particular financial situation and individual needs. PropertyGuru does not give any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of information which is contained on this website. Except insofar as any liability under statute cannot be excluded, PropertyGuru and its employees do not accept any liability for any error or omission on this website or for any resulting loss or damage suffered by the recipient or any other person.
