Credit Bureau just recently release a report on consumer credit behaviour and how people use credit balances, as well as their payment delinquency and default rates in both secured and unsecured credit facilities. Home loans are examples of secured facilities, while unsecured debt refers to loans with no collateral, like those racked up on credit cards or overdrafts.
The highlights are as follows:
1. Mortgage loan applications rose 20 % in the three months to March 31 from the preceding quarter. The average mortgage for people aged between 21 and 29 had the greatest quarter-on-quarter change among several age groups, rising 3.4 %.
Home loan applications could have been given a boost after the Government tweaked some property cooling measures in early March since the curbs were implemented in 2009. For example the seller’s stamp duty holding period for homes bought from March 11 was shortened to three years from four years. Subsequently the sales of new private homes surged to a near four-year high in March.
2. Motor vehicle loan applications rose 4.13 %. Consumers aged between 30 and 34 had the most significant change in motor vehicle loans, with average borrowings up 5.1 %.
3. Credit card applications fell 5.97 %, while those for personal loans dropped 5.94 %. Credit card applications still made up 72 % of about 331,600 new credit applications across all facilities in the first quarter, with home loans next on 14 %. People aged between 35 and 39 were doing better than others when it came to paying off debts, with their delinquency rate for credit cards falling 5.4 % quarter-on-quarter, while the personal loan rate dropped 8.74 %.
For more details the link to report is as follows