Chart of the Day: This is proof that housing loans are resilient despite 'harsh environment'

And it could mean 2 things.

According to Maybank Kim Eng, notwithstanding the harsh environment in 2001-2004, when the economy was hit by a series of severe setbacks – global economic slowdown in 2001, the Sep 2001 terrorist attacks in the US and the outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in Asia – housing NPL ratio stayed below 3% and recorded a meaningful improvement throughout this period.

This reflects the high social safety net including financial assistance from parents that helped to alleviate the crunch.

Here's more from Maybank Kim Eng:

Also, the fact that the HDB Board dominated a significant portion of total outstanding housing loans.

During that time, the HDB Board commanded almost 60% total housing loan market share. With the HDB Board targeting lower-income households, this reduced banks’ exposure to the financially weaker segment.

While the HDB Board has ceded substantial ground to banks over the past 10 years, it remains a key financier in the housing sector and continues to extend home financing to the more financially challenging households.

Based on Sep 2013 data, the total housing loans extended by the HDB Board amounted to SGD37.0b, constituting 18.2% of total outstanding housing loans.