Looks like the days of low interest rates are here: the 6 month SOR has fallen to 1.16%, the lowest level since i started tracking. If interest rates remain subdued, i should expect more savings yet again when my home loan interest, which is pegged to the 3 month SOR, is due for revision again. The timing couldn’t have been better – i’ve managed to escape the spike in interest rates brought about by the worldwide credit crunch.
Continuing the wild ride of the past few weeks, SOR began the week at 1%, soaring to 2.11% mid-week and finishing the week at 1.63%. SIBOR was slightly less volatile, ranging between 1.38% and 1.63%.
The past few days have been the most volatile on all financial fronts, be it equities, exchange rate or interest rates. In Singapore, the 3 months SIBOR spiked to 2.23% due to “spillover from the US funding freeze and also the increase in risk aversion in the local interbank market”. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) had increased liquidity in the local money market in their effort to keep SIBOR in check.
There has been a lot of volatility in the SOR and SIBOR the past few days, reacting to the jump in LIBOR as people are “afraid to lend to one another”. The 3 month SOR has broken through the previous high of 1.63 to hit 1.7, since i started tracking it in April.
I should be expecting a letter from my bank soon, telling me that the interest rate chargeable on my housing loan will be revised to 1.9%, with effect from September 1. This is a second time win for me, having my housing loan interest rate shaved by another 0.1%.
Predictions for the Fed Funds Rate tell us that it looks set to remain at 2% at least until October.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has kept the federal funds rate at 2.0% – news that is not news since it was widely anticipated. What is more important to note perhaps, is that “in its statement, the Fed gave no sign that it plans to change policy in the foreseeable future.”
Excerpts from news sources
SOR has fallen consecutively for 3 days to a new low of 1.09%!
SIBOR or SOR pegged loan packages may be drawing more interest now that there are no more cheap mortgages as banks raise rates. Quoting from the Jun 12 article:
No more cheap mortgages as banks raise rates UOB and OCBC Bank have raised rates for their three-year, fixed-rate mortgages to 3.68 per cent from 2.98 per cent.
June 02, the day my housing loan re-pricing was effected. Buried under a pile of letters that i have forgotten to look through was a letter from my bank that says “the interest rate chargeable on your loan account will be revised 2.850000% to 2.018050% per annum on a monthly rest basis”. Finally the savings i have been anticipating have materialized!