What Singaporeans are borrowing for as costs rise, and what it says about everyday life

Prices rose faster, borrowing reached a record and the HDB resale market softened in Q3 2026. Lendela's latest thematic report looks at what people applying through the platform have been borrowing for in 2026, and how that sits against Singapore's cost trends.

Drawing on loan applications received on Lendela between 1 January and 31 August 2026, this report combines Lendela's own data with Singapore's latest price, lending and housing figures. It is part of Lendela's ongoing series of data-driven insights on how economic conditions shape borrowing behaviour in Singapore.

Key findings

Prices rose, and debt, family and bills led the reasons to borrow

• Singapore's annual inflation rate rose from 1.9% in June to 2.2% in July and 2.3% in August. MAS Core Inflation reached 2.2% in August, up from 1.6% in June.

• Other transport services, the group that includes airfares, rose 12.8% year on year in August, and land transport services, which include point-to-point transport, rose 8.3%. Food rose 2.3%.

• The pressure is not new. Over the past ten years, transport prices rose 51%, food 28% and healthcare 24%, while clothing and phone and internet costs were flat or lower. The costs that rose most are the ones people cannot skip. (ten-year cost of living)

• On Lendela, the most common reason to borrow in 2026 so far was debt consolidation, at about 1 in 6 applicants. Repaying family and friends and paying bills each came to about 1 in 8.

Even as prices rose, the top reasons to borrow were about managing commitments already in place: debt, family and bills.

In July, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) increased the rate of appreciation of the Singapore dollar policy band very slightly. At its October review it held that stance. The reason is visible in the latest readings: MAS Core Inflation rose to 2.1% in July and August combined, from 1.5% in the second quarter, as higher import costs passed through to a broader range of goods and services. Electricity and gas tariffs stepped up, inflation in fuel-intensive transport services stayed high, and food inflation rose to 2.2% from 1.9%.

Not everything pushed prices up. MAS noted that services inflation came in lower than expected, held down by enhanced government subsidies for healthcare and stronger price competition in telecommunications. That mix is worth keeping in mind: the costs that rose fastest sat in energy, transport and food, while some other bills eased.

Looking ahead, MAS expects core inflation to stay slightly elevated in the immediate quarters, with energy and food prices projected to remain high in the near term, before easing more clearly from mid-2027. For 2026 as a whole it forecasts core inflation averaging 1.5% to 2.0%, with headline inflation around 2.0%. For 2027 it expects both measures to average 1.5% to 2.5%, and it sees the risks to inflation as tilted to the upside.

Because these are full-year averages, a forecast near 2% can sit alongside months where a commute, a flight or a grocery run costs noticeably more. For anyone managing a fixed monthly budget, the practical question is whether that budget has absorbed this year's increases.

Repaying family and friends is a leading reason to borrow

Repaying loans to family and friends was one of the top reasons to borrow on Lendela, at about 1 in 8 applicants. Informal borrowing between relatives and friends is common in Singapore, and borrowing to settle it is one way people turn it into a plan with clear terms.

Part of the reason is timing. Big family costs often arrive before support does, so households often cover the gap first and sort out repayment later. The examples below, drawn from Lendela's cost guides on a baby's first year and eldercare in Singapore, show how large those costs can be.

Record lending and higher card balances

• Bank lending reached a record $966.4 billion in August 2026, with consumer loans at $384.4 billion. Credit card loans rose to $18.0 billion from $17.6 billion in July.

• Card balances and everyday bills are closely tied to debt consolidation, which brings several balances into one repayment.

With several offers side by side, the most useful comparison is total payable over the full tenure, not just the monthly figure.

Record bank lending does not, on its own, signal households under strain. MAS addressed this in Parliament in April. It said the rise in household liabilities during 2025 was mainly due to mortgages, as more people bought homes to live in during the second half of the year, with most of the remainder in personal loans, including loans secured against assets, mainly for investments and business purposes.

MAS described household balance sheets as fundamentally strong. Household assets are about nine times the size of liabilities, and liquid assets such as cash and deposits continue to exceed total household liabilities.

Credit cards sit at the more everyday end of this picture. Card balances move with prices, travel and festive spending, so the rise from $17.6 billion in July to $18.0 billion in August fits the cost pressures above. Singapore also has safeguards against over-borrowing. For unsecured consumer credit, MAS imposes minimum income requirements, borrowing limits and credit suspension for borrowers with persistent debt. The Total Debt Servicing Ratio includes an interest rate floor, so affordability is judged conservatively even when rates are low.

That backdrop helps explain why debt consolidation leads the Lendela reasons. When several balances sit at different rates, combining them into one repayment with a fixed tenure can make the total easier to plan. It is worth comparing the full amount payable, not only the monthly figure.

Home buyers faced softer prices and a busier market

• The HDB Resale Price Index slipped 0.2% quarter on quarter to 202.4 in Q3 2026, the third straight quarterly decline after falls of 0.1% in Q1 and 0.3% in Q2. (HDB flash estimate)

• Resale transactions rose from 6,268 in Q2 to 7,528 in Q3, the highest of the three quarters of 2026 so far (first-published flash estimates).

• On 27 July, HDB removed the 15-month wait-out period for private property owners and ex-owners buying a non-subsidised resale flat without an HDB loan, so that wait went from 15 months to none.

Softer prices and more activity make this a good moment to run the numbers on monthly repayments before committing.

A flash estimate is an early reading and can be revised: the Q2 index figure, first published as 202.7, now stands at 202.8.

A small decline in the index is not the same as a change in what a home costs. The index tracks price movement across flat types and towns, while a buyer's monthly repayment still depends on the loan amount, the interest rate and the tenure. MAS's debt servicing rules assess affordability with an interest rate floor, so the checks banks and financial institutions apply do not loosen simply because prices dip.

For anyone weighing a purchase, softer prices are a reason to run the numbers carefully, not to rush.

Growth slowed, but stayed firm

• Singapore's GDP grew 5.4% year on year in Q3 2026, easing from 6.2% in Q2, according to the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry's advance estimate released on 14 October 2026. On a quarter-on-quarter, seasonally adjusted basis, growth was 1.1%, down from 1.5% in Q2.

• Manufacturing grew 7.5% year on year, slower than 12.9% in Q2. Electronics, precision engineering and transport engineering supported the gain, while chemicals and biomedical manufacturing declined.

• Construction grew 8.8%, wholesale and retail trade together with transportation and storage grew 8.0%, and finance, information and communications and professional services grew 4.3%.

The slowest-growing group, at 2.1%, covers accommodation and food services, real estate, administrative services and other services. Within it, food and beverage services did not expand in the quarter, and retail trade also did not expand within the trade and transport group. MAS describes some weakness in consumer-facing segments, even as technology-related sectors led growth.

MAS expects firm growth in the immediate quarters, then moderation as the AI-related cycle eases and global financial conditions tighten. The government's full-year GDP forecasts for 2026 and 2027 will be announced by METI in November.

Strong headline growth does not mean every household feels it equally, and the sectors closest to everyday spending were among the softer ones.

Slower growth does not change what shows up in a loan application. The figure worth watching next is September's inflation data, due on 23 October 2026, which will show whether prices are keeping pace with that growth.

Interpreting the signal

Borrowing is mostly about managing what is already there

Debt consolidation, family repayments and bills sit at the top of the reasons to borrow. With prices rising, that points to people tidying up existing commitments rather than taking on new spending. It also fits Singapore research: an Institute of Policy Studies paper found 88.8% of young Singaporeans spend within their income, even though 80% worry they spend too much.

Family is often the first place people turn

Repaying family and friends sits among the top reasons to borrow. With large costs such as childbirth and eldercare often landing on households before support does, many first solve short-term gaps informally, then look for a structured way to settle them.

Total cost matters more than the monthly figure

When comparing offers side by side, the most useful figure is the total payable over the full tenure. A lower monthly repayment can still cost more overall.

The Lendela figures in this report are based on loan applications received on Lendela between 1 January and 31 August 2026, with each person counted once.

They refer to the share of applicants, not absolute volumes, and are rounded. Loan purposes are self-declared by applicants and grouped into broader categories for analysis.

Borrower figures describe applicants on Lendela and are not Singapore population statistics. All data is anonymised and aggregated; no individual borrower or financial institution is identifiable.

External figures come from SingStat (inflation, and the ten-year price changes from Jun 2016 to Jun 2026), MAS (October 2026 Monetary Policy Statement and April 2026 parliamentary reply), HDB, the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry (METI, advance GDP estimates), Trading Economics (MAS lending data) and EdgeProp (HDB transaction data).

Cost examples come from MOH (hospital bill data and eldercare schemes), the Institute of Policy Studies (Working Paper No. 55, 2024, fieldwork 2022) and Lendela's own The Real Price Of series.

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