Singapore Household Net Worth Rises 6.7% While Debt Growth Outpaces Assets in Q1 2026 (SingStat)

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THE STRAITS TIMES

Monday, June 08, 2026 Singapore households’ net wealth up, but also taking on more debt by Chor Kieng Yi , Senior Business Correspondent

Households here are better off than a year ago, with net worth rising 6.7 per cent, but are also taking on debt at a faster pace.

Household liabilities grew by 8.2 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, according to the latest household balance sheet releases by the Department of Statistics (SingStat).

This marked the 10th straight quarter in which household borrowing has picked up pace.

Meanwhile, the financial and residential property assets held by households increased year on year by 6.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, although at a slower pace than the 7.3 per cent growth in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Notably, households are accumulating debt at a faster clip than they are building wealth – a shift that emerged in the fourth quarter of 2025 and continued through the past quarter.

Lee Yen Nee, senior country risk analyst for the Asia-Pacific region at BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, told The Straits Times: While household liabilities have grown faster than assets, the sheer scale of household wealth means Singapore remains relatively low-leveraged.

SingStat’s report released on May 26 also showed that household wealth as a percentage of personal disposable income held steady at 863.8 per cent in the first quarter. This means the net worth of all households – assets net of liabilities – is about 8.7 times their annual aggregate take-home pay.

Excluding illiquid property assets, financial assets as a percentage of personal disposable income fell 0.5 percentage point to 557.3 per cent.

Financial assets include readily available bank deposits and other less liquid assets, such as insurance and listed securities. While not completely representative, this figure gives a rough idea of a family’s financial cushion.

At 5.6 times take-home pay, it means that households collectively have a reserve that can sustain them for around five to six years if they lose their jobs.

MORTGAGE AND CAR LOANS

The pick-up in household liabilities in the first quarter of 2026 was due to faster growth in mortgage and personal loans, noted SingStat.

Mortgage loan growth rose 5.8 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, following 5.4 per cent growth in the fourth quarter of 2025. (photo-side callout in the article)

[Several lines in this section are too small to read clearly in the provided image and are marked as [illegible].]

Total residential [illegible] including outstanding loans [illegible] grew for nine straight quarters [illegible] to $186.6 billion.

Such loans include secured car loans, and other unsecured loans like education loans, overdrafts and renovation loans.

Car loans and other unsecured loans drove the increase in personal loans in the first quarter.

A separate quarterly report from Credit Bureau Singapore showed that home owners in the 21 to 29 age group had the highest average real estate loan balances of $523,199 in the first quarter of 2026, but one of the lowest delinquency rates of 0.14 per cent.

The report also showed that average [motor vehicle] loan balances were highest among those aged 50 to 54 (shown as $64,633 in the infographic), while those aged 21 to 29 had the highest delinquency rate (shown as 0.51 per cent) despite having the lowest average balances (shown as $46,039).

UNSECURED PERSONAL LOANS AND CREDIT CARD DEBT

The situation for unsecured personal loans was more of a concern, with delinquency rates above 1 per cent. [Further lines in this section are partially illegible in the image.]

Meanwhile, unpaid credit and charge card bills grew at a slower pace of 6.8 per cent in the first quarter, from 6.9 per cent growth in the fourth quarter.

[Several subsequent lines are illegible.]

DEBT GROWTH CONTAINED

Still, SingStat figures indicate that the debt situation remains broadly stable for now.

Despite household liabilities as a percentage of personal disposable income rising 0.5 percentage point to 107.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, this remains below the 10-year historical average of 132 per cent.

BMI’s Lee noted that despite the rise in borrowing, liabilities account for just 11 per cent of household assets in the first quarter of 2026, broadly in line with around 10 per cent throughout 2025.

She added that Singapore’s reliance on macroprudential measures such as the total debt servicing ratio (TDSR) and loan-to-value (LTV) limits ensure that additional borrowing remains prudent and sustainable.

TDSR caps a borrower’s total debt obligations to no more than 55 per cent of their gross monthly income, while LTV limits cap the maximum amount a borrower can take for secured loans, typically at a percentage of the asset’s value.

Unsecured loans, like credit card debt and personal loans, do not use LTV because there is no underlying asset to value. Instead, MAS caps a borrower’s total unsecured credit to 12 times that individual’s monthly income.

Given the safeguards in place, Lee said the recent pick-up in liabilities growth is more likely to be driven by wealthier households who have strong cash reserves.

The debt build-up does not reflect a rise in financial vulnerability across the population, she added.

Infographic text

Household borrowing picks up pace in Q1

GROWTH IN HOUSEHOLD NET WORTH, ASSETS AND LIABILITIES (% year-on-year percentage change)

- Liabilities: 8.2%
- Assets: 6.8%
- Household net worth: 6.7%

Other charts shown:
- Average real estate loan balances + Delinquency rate (%)
- Average motor vehicle loan balances + Delinquency rate (%)
- Average unsecured personal loan balances + Delinquency rate (%)
- Average unsecured credit card balances + Delinquency rate (%)

Note: “Delinquency rate is the percentage of loans that are more than 30 days overdue.”
Sources): Department of Statistics; Credit Bureau Singapore; Sunday Times Graphics.

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