MAS' latest cooling measures affect 10% of new mortgage applications

Guess which bank was the most aggressive in the market?

Based on Barclays' channel checks, the latest cooling measures affect up to 10% of new mortgage applications (~2% of existing book assuming average duration of 5 years), taking into account loan tenure and affordability.

Here's more from Barclays:

OCBC was the most aggressive in the mortgage market, growing its mortgage book by 9% in 1H12 h/h.

As corporate lending slows, we expect DBS and UOB to be more active in winning mortgage market share in 2H12E.

Given that the average system mortgage LTV is only 44%, we believe the risk of substantial losses from potential property price declines is minimal.

The biggest risk we see to mortgage asset quality is a potential rise in unemployment. Unemployment remains low at 2%.