DBS beefs up its loan book by snatching up more mortgages in Q2

It enjoyed more HDB loans last quarter.

As slowing loan growth continues to threaten Singapore’s largest lenders, DBS is turning to domestic mortgages to beef up its asset book.

The group reported that total loans grew 1% year-on-year in the second quarter, and analysts note that the marginal growth was mostly driven by home loans.

“DBS guided that it had the highest growth in mortgage applications for some time, in 2Q, due to refinancing. DBS is seeing market share gains, especially from HDB loans,” CIMB said in a report.

CIMB added that DBS has changed its tune when it comes to offering fixed-rate loans.

“Last year, DBS gained mortgage market share as it leveraged its CASA pool to compete more aggressively on fixed rate loans. CEO Piyush Gupta guided that the demand for fixed rate mortgage loans has softened because of people’s perception that rising interest rates have eased, and their stronger mortgage product is a POSB capped rate product,” CIMB said.