Mortgage Eligibility in Singapore: Practical Guide with Homejourney Tools

For anyone buying a home in Singapore, understanding mortgage eligibility Singapore is just as important as choosing the right property. Before you fall in love with a BTO in Punggol or a resale condo near Tanjong Pagar MRT, you need to know exactly how much you can safely and legally borrow.

This guide explains how to determine your home loan eligibility step by step, using current MAS, HDB and bank rules, with practical examples, local context, and tools from Homejourney to make calculations easier and safer for you.

1. Mortgage Eligibility in Singapore: Quick Overview
2. Key Rules: TDSR, MSR, LTV and Age Limits
3. Income Requirements and How Banks Assess You
4. Credit Score, Existing Loans and Other Factors
5. Step-by-Step Eligibility Calculations (Real Examples)
6. How to Improve Your Mortgage Eligibility
7. Using Homejourney to Check and Maximise Your Eligibility
8. Interest Rates, SORA and Why They Matter for Eligibility
9. Safe Step-by-Step Process to Check Eligibility Before Buying
10. FAQ: “Am I Eligible for a Mortgage?” – Common Questions Answered
11. Next Steps: How Homejourney Supports Your Financing Journey

1. Mortgage Eligibility in Singapore: Quick Overview

In Singapore, your ability to qualify for a mortgage is governed by a combination of government rules and bank-specific criteria. At the core are three regulatory pillars from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and HDB:

Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) – caps your total monthly debt obligations at 55% of your gross monthly income for all property loans and other debts.[5]
Mortgage Servicing Ratio (MSR) – caps your housing instalments for HDB flats and ECs at 30% of your gross monthly income.[5][6]
Loan-to-Value (LTV) limits and age/tenure rules – determine what percentage of the property price or valuation you can borrow, and over how many years.

On top of these, banks such as DBS, OCBC, UOB, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Maybank, CIMB, RHB, Public Bank, Hong Leong Bank and Citibank will assess:

Type and stability of income (salaried vs self-employed vs variable bonus)
Credit history and repayment behaviour
Existing loans (car, renovation, education, credit cards)
Age and loan tenure
Property type (HDB, EC, private condo, landed)

If this sounds complex, Homejourney simplifies it. You can use:

Homejourney’s mortgage eligibility calculator at Mortgage Rates or Bank Rates to estimate your borrowing power instantly.
Bank rates comparison at https://www.homejourney.sg/bank-rates to see live rates from multiple banks and how they affect your monthly instalments.

2. Key Rules: TDSR, MSR, LTV and Age Limits

2.1 Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR)

Definition: TDSR limits the proportion of your gross monthly income that can be used to service all your monthly debt obligations (property and non-property debt) to 55%.[5]

This applies to loans for all residential properties (HDB, EC, private) and is a core part of your home loan eligibility.

TDSR formula:

Maximum total monthly debt allowed = 55% × gross monthly income[5]

Debt included in TDSR:

All housing loans (existing and new)
Car loans
Personal loans
Education loans
Renovation loans
Credit card minimum payments
Any other term debt obligations

Homejourney also has detailed TDSR-focused guides you can refer to:

2.2 Mortgage Servicing Ratio (MSR)

Definition: MSR is an additional rule that applies only to HDB flats and Executive Condominiums (ECs). Your monthly housing instalment for these properties cannot exceed 30% of your gross monthly income.[5][6]

MSR formula:

Maximum monthly housing instalment = 30% × gross monthly income[5][6]

MSR must be satisfied together with TDSR. When calculating your mortgage eligibility Singapore for an HDB flat or EC, the lower of TDSR or MSR will usually determine your safe borrowing limit.

2.3 Loan-to-Value (LTV) and Minimum Cash/CPF Downpayment

LTV rules determine how much of the property price or valuation (whichever is lower) you can borrow. They depend on:

How many existing housing loans you have
Loan tenure
Whether the loan tenure goes past age 65

For a first housing loan where tenure does not exceed 30 years and does not go past age 65, the maximum LTV is typically up to 75% with local banks, with the remaining 25% paid via cash and/or CPF (with a minimum 5% cash for private property under current guidelines).[1]

Local example: If you are buying a S$900,000 resale condo in Bishan and qualify for 75% LTV, maximum loan amount is S$675,000. You must prepare S$225,000 from cash and CPF plus stamp duty and legal fees.

2.4 Age and Loan Tenure Limits

Most banks in Singapore allow a maximum loan tenure of up to 30 years for HDB flats and 35 years for private property, subject to the loan not extending beyond a certain age (commonly age 65 or 75, depending on bank policy).[1][7]

Key points:

The older you are, the shorter the allowable tenure, which increases your monthly instalment and may reduce your home loan eligibility.
If your loan tenure exceeds the regulatory age threshold, your LTV may be reduced (e.g. to 55%), requiring more upfront cash/CPF.[1]

3. Income Requirements and How Banks Assess You

Banks in Singapore assess income conservatively to protect borrowers and ensure sustainable repayments. MAS sets the framework, and each bank fine-tunes its underwriting criteria.[5]

3.1 Salaried Employees

If you are a full-time employee (e.g. working in a bank in Raffles Place or a tech firm at One-North), your income assessment is relatively straightforward. Banks typically require:

Latest 3 months’ payslips
Latest 12 months’ CPF contribution history (for Singaporeans/PRs)
Latest Notice of Assessment (NOA) from IRAS

Fixed basic salary is counted at 100% for TDSR/MSR calculations. Variable income such as commission and bonuses may be haircut by 10–30% depending on bank policy.[2]

3.2 Self-Employed, Freelancers and Variable Income

If you are self-employed (e.g. running a café in Tiong Bahru or a small design studio in Bugis) or a freelancer/commission-based agent, your income is classified as variable. Banks generally:

Review your past 2 years’ NOAs to compute an average income
Apply a 20–30% haircut on variable income to be conservative[2]
May request business registration documents, bank statements and financial statements

As a rule of thumb, if you earn S$10,000/month on average as variable income, the bank may only recognise S$7,000–S$8,000/month for TDSR purposes.[2]

3.3 Joint Borrowers and Household Income

Many Singapore buyers purchase with a spouse or family member. For example, a couple buying a 4-room resale HDB in Queenstown may combine incomes to boost eligibility.

Banks will:

Add up gross monthly income of all borrowers
Apply TDSR and MSR (for HDB/EC) on the combined income
Consider the credit profile and existing debt of each borrower

Using Homejourney’s loan eligibility calculator at https://www.homejourney.sg/bank-rates#calculator, you can enter combined incomes and existing debts to estimate your joint borrowing capacity accurately.

3.4 Minimum Income and Bank-Specific Rules

Most banks have a minimum loan size rather than a formal minimum income requirement, but in practice, for a standard housing loan:

Minimum loan amount may be S$200,000 for HDB and S$300,000 for private property.[7]
Income level must still support TDSR/MSR and bank stress-test interest rates.

Different banks (DBS, OCBC, UOB, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Maybank, CIMB, RHB, Public Bank, Hong Leong Bank, Citibank) may offer different maximum tenures and slightly different ways of hair-cutting income, so your eligibility can differ slightly across banks. Homejourney’s multi-bank approach helps you see these differences safely and transparently.

4. Credit Score, Existing Loans and Other Factors

4.1 Credit Score and Repayment History

Banks in Singapore obtain your credit report from Credit Bureau Singapore (CBS). A strong repayment history improves your chances of approval and may give you better packages.

Factors that can affect your credit assessment:

Late or missed payments on credit cards or loans
High utilisation of credit card limits
Frequent applications for new credit facilities

While MAS does not set a minimum credit score, banks have internal thresholds. If your credit record shows repeated late payments, your home loan eligibility will be affected even if your income and TDSR look acceptable.

4.2 Existing Loans and Obligations

Before approving your loan, banks will factor in your ongoing liabilities:

Car loans (common for families living in outer areas like Sengkang or Bukit Panjang)
Personal loans and lines of credit
Education loans
Renovation loans
Credit card obligations – usually minimum 3–5% of outstanding balance taken as monthly commitment

All these are counted into the 55% TDSR cap.[5] When you use Homejourney’s calculator, key in all your current obligations honestly – this is crucial for accurate and safe eligibility results.

4.3 Property Type and Regulations

Your property type (HDB, EC, private condo, landed) affects eligibility via MSR and HDB-specific conditions.

High-level differences:

HDB BTO and resale flats: subject to MSR and additional HDB eligibility criteria (citizenship, household income ceiling for certain schemes, ethnic quota, etc.).
Executive Condos (ECs): MSR applies during the initial purchase period; later they are treated more like private condos.
Private condos and landed: no MSR, but TDSR and LTV rules still apply.

HDB and MAS rules can change, so always cross-check with official HDB and MAS pages and use Homejourney’s tools, which are updated to reflect current regulations.

5. Step-by-Step Eligibility Calculations (Real Examples)

This section walks through practical calculation scenarios so you can answer “Am I eligible for mortgage?” with real numbers.

5.1 Key Assumptions for Examples

To keep comparisons fair, we make a few standard assumptions (these do not represent any one bank’s official policy):

Stress-test interest rate: 4% p.a. (banks often use higher than current market rates when assessing eligibility)
Loan tenure: 25 years (300 months)
Income: based on stated gross monthly salary
No other debts unless specified

Disclaimer: These examples are simplified. Actual bank calculations may differ slightly and bank decisions remain final. Use them as educational guidance, then verify using Homejourney’s calculators.