Comparing Home Loans Across Banks Made Easy vs Other Banks Comparison is about one key decision: do you want a safe, transparent, fully guided way to compare home loans Singapore-wide in minutes, or spend days collecting bank rate comparison quotes one by one and hoping you did not miss a better offer.
This Homejourney guide explains how to compare mortgage offers from DBS, OCBC, UOB, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Maybank, CIMB, RHB, Public Bank, Hong Leong Bank and Citibank efficiently and safely, and how Homejourney’s tools reduce risk, save time, and help you secure the best mortgage rate for your situation.
This article is a focused cluster under our main pillar guide: Compare Home Loans Across Banks in Singapore: Homejourney’s Complete Guide Compare Home Loans Across Banks in Singapore: Homejourney’s Complete Guide . For a full A–Z walkthrough of home loan rules, LTV limits, MSR/TDSR, and case studies, refer back to that pillar.
Why Comparing Home Loans Across Banks “the Old Way” is Risky
Most Singapore buyers still start by calling or visiting a few banks, or asking a friend’s banker for "best rate". On paper, this sounds simple, but in practice it is risky and incomplete.
From my own experience helping buyers around Tampines, Punggol and Queenstown, the same pattern repeats: one couple looks only at their salary bank, takes the first offer, and years later realises another bank was 0.3% lower. Over a S$700,000 loan for a 25-year tenure, that difference can be more than S$30,000 in interest.
Traditional “other banks comparison” usually means:
- You only speak to 2–3 banks, not the full market.
- You get different quote formats, making true bank loan comparison hard.
- You have no live SORA benchmark to understand floating-rate risk.
- You rely on sales pitches instead of neutral, side-by-side data.
For first-time buyers in BTO estates like Tengah or upgraders selling a Tampines 4-room for a mass-market condo in Sengkang, this information gap can be costly and stressful.
How Homejourney Makes Bank Loan Comparison Safer and Easier
Homejourney is built around one principle: user safety and transparency first. Instead of guessing which bank has the best mortgage rate today, you see live packages from all major lenders in one trusted place.
Using Homejourney’s bank rate comparison engine at Bank Rates , you can:
- Compare rates from multiple banks instantly – DBS, OCBC, UOB, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Maybank, CIMB, RHB, Public Bank, Hong Leong Bank and Citibank.
- View fixed, SORA floating and board-rate packages in a unified layout.
- Filter by property type (HDB, private condo, landed, EC, BUC project) using data aligned with URA and HDB rules.
- See indicative monthly instalments based on your loan amount and tenure.
- Run eligibility checks using the integrated mortgage calculator Mortgage Rates before you even speak to a banker.
Because Homejourney updates rates from partner banks frequently, you reduce the risk of acting on outdated information, especially in a fast-moving rate environment where fixed packages have moved from above 3% to around the mid-1% range in recent years[4].
Key Rate Types: Fixed vs SORA vs Board Rate (Singapore Context)
To compare home loans Singapore-wide properly, you must understand the three main rate structures offered by banks like DBS, OCBC and UOB[8]:
- Fixed-rate packages: The interest rate is locked (e.g. 1.50%–1.80% p.a.) for a fixed period (commonly 2 or 3 years), then converts to a floating formula thereafter[4]. Good for buyers who want predictable instalments – e.g. young couples in BTO estates like Punggol Northshore balancing childcare and car loan costs.
- SORA-pegged floating packages: The rate is usually quoted as 3M SORA + spread. For example, a bank may offer 3M SORA + 0.50%, reviewed every 3 months[3]. When MAS’ SORA benchmark changes, your instalment changes.
- Board-rate / internal reference packages: The bank uses its own internal reference rate (e.g. a fixed-deposit rate or board rate). The formula is usually board rate + spread. These can be attractive initially but depend heavily on each bank’s discretion.
As of 2025–2026, many banks have shifted firmly towards SORA packages in line with MAS guidance replacing SIBOR and SOR with SORA as the main benchmark for floating-rate home loans[3].
The chart below shows recent interest rate trends in Singapore to give you a feel for how benchmarks like SORA have moved, and why locking in or staying floating is a strategic choice rather than guesswork:
When you use Homejourney, you can track live 3M and 6M SORA movements alongside each bank’s spread, so you are not just shopping by headline rate but by true long-term cost.
Comparing Home Loans Across Major Singapore Banks: What Really Differs
Every major bank in Singapore offers a mix of fixed and floating packages, but the differences that matter most in a bank loan comparison are often hidden in the fine print, not the headline rate.
Here are the key dimensions you should compare on Homejourney when you compare mortgage offers:
- Interest rate & spread – e.g. Bank A: 3M SORA + 0.40%; Bank B: 3M SORA + 0.60%. A 0.20% spread difference on a S$800,000 condo loan in Queenstown can easily mean more than S$1,600 extra per year.
- Lock-in period – Typically 2 or 3 years for fixed; 1–3 years for floating. Some banks offer no lock-in for completed properties, which is useful if you might sell your HDB in Yishun and upgrade to a condo in Woodleigh within 2–3 years.
- Prepayment / redemption penalties – A common penalty is 1.5% of the outstanding loan if you fully redeem during lock-in. Some banks waive penalties for sale of property but not refinancing; others are stricter. Homejourney flags these differences clearly.
- Free conversion / repricing options – Certain banks allow one-time free conversion after lock-in; others charge a fee. This affects your long-term flexibility.
- Legal & valuation subsidies – Refinancing packages often include subsidies (e.g. up to S$2,000) to offset your legal and valuation costs when you switch lenders.
- Eligibility & credit policy – Some banks are more conservative for self-employed borrowers, commission income, or foreigners; some have stricter debt-servicing rules even within MAS TDSR guidelines.
Homejourney’s comparison view surfaces these factors side by side instead of burying them in separate PDF documents for each bank.
Real-Life Scenario: Manual Bank Comparison vs Homejourney
Imagine a couple living in a 4-room HDB in Sengkang, upgrading to a S$1.4 million resale condo near Lentor MRT.
Scenario A – Old-school “other banks comparison”
- They visit branches at AMK Hub and Raffles Place for DBS, OCBC, UOB quotes.
- They WhatsApp a banker contact at another foreign bank.
- Rates are sent over a few days in different formats: some with SORA projections, some only first-year teaser rates, some missing lock-in details.
- They create an Excel sheet on their own, but miss one bank that has a limited-time fixed-rate promo that would have saved them S$200/month.
Scenario B – Comparing Home Loans Across Banks Made Easy via Homejourney
- They input target purchase price and loan amount into Homejourney’s mortgage eligibility calculator to estimate their borrowing power within MAS TDSR rules.
- They view all partner banks’ packages on one page at Bank Rates , sorted by effective rate and monthly repayment.
- They apply filters: 3-year fixed, 75% LTV, completed condo, and immediately see the top few offers.
- They use Singpass/MyInfo through Homejourney’s integrated application system so their details auto-fill, and they can submit to multiple banks at once.
- Lenders compete for their business; within a few days, they can see side-by-side which bank offers the best overall combination of rate, lock-in, and flexibility.
