What is a Fixed Deposit Home Rate?

A fixed deposit home rate is a floating home loan rate whose reference rate is the lending bank’s own fixed deposit rate for a set tenor, plus a spread. MAS’s November 2021 information paper describes a fixed deposit rate used this way as an administered rate, determined by each financial institution, rather than a market indicator such as SORA, and expects such rates to be adjusted in a fair manner, in line with sustained trends in the institution’s cost of funding. MAS estimated that about 30% of financial institutions’ mortgages were linked to board rates or fixed deposit rates as of Q3 2023. The latest 3-month compounded SORA is 1.23% for SORA value date 1 Oct 2026 (MAS); the table below sets the deposit averages beside SORA on matching quarter-end dates.

Updated Published 12 min read MORTGAGE
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Singapore · weighted average rate on all outstanding 3-month fixed deposits, end of 2026 Q2 · MAS Table III.3A (qualifying full bank and full bank licensees only; deposits up to the Deposit Insurance Scheme maximum). An average across banks, not any bank’s home loan rate
1.21%
1-month0.58%
6-month0.90%
12-month0.97%
Seriesquarterly
12-month FD average0.97%all outstanding, end of 2026 Q2; MAS Table III.3A
3-month SORA1.23%compounded; MAS, SORA value date 1 Oct 2026
Board- or FD-linkedabout 30%of financial institutions’ mortgages, Q3 2023; MAS estimate
Usual notice30 daysMoneySense; MAS calls at least 30 days good practice
Monthly table endedMay 2023MAS Table III.3, discontinued from May 2023; last bank FD readings June 2021
Fair Dealing revised30 May 2024MAS guidelines; Poor practice 4.10 covers the FD tenor a mortgage is pegged to
On this pageReference rate and spreadDeposit rates vs SORAWhat it means for youMisconceptionsRelated termsSources

Key takeaways

  • MAS’s November 2021 information paper describes the interest rate on a variable rate mortgage as not fixed — the financial institution (FI) can vary it at any time — and made up of a reference rate and a spread. The reference rate is pegged either to a publicly available market indicator, such as SORA, or to an administered rate determined by each FI, for example a fixed deposit rate or an internal board rate. MAS states that it does not intervene directly in mortgage pricing, but expects floating rate mortgages that reference FI-determined rates to be adjusted in a fair manner, in line with sustained trends in the FI’s cost of funding for such loans.
  • In thematic inspections of large mortgage lenders over 2020 and early 2021, MAS noted isolated instances where banks adjusted fixed deposit rates for the tenor to which mortgage rates were pegged more slowly than other fixed deposit rates while market rates were trending down. That delayed the downward revision of the pegged mortgage rates for a few months; customers had the option to reprice to other mortgage packages at no cost. MAS’s Guidelines on Fair Dealing, revised on 30 May 2024 with immediate effect and now applying to all FIs and all products and services they offer, cite as Poor practice 4.10 an FI that lowered its fixed deposit rates generally, except for certain tenors to which mortgage rates were pegged.
  • As supervisory expectations in its 2021 paper, MAS expects banks to disclose in mortgage contracts which interest rate components can be revised (for example the spread, or the type and value of the reference rate), the circumstances that may trigger a revision, that a minimum of 30 days’ notice will be given and, if applicable, whether the administered rate differs between packages. For administered rate mortgages, where banks decide the frequency and quantum of rate changes, MAS encourages them to disclose at inception how their administered rate has moved against market rate changes, and expects them to explain to customers the triggers for any change.
  • MAS Notice 632A’s fact sheet form states that the FI must not change a fixed component during the period for which it is stated as fixed, and has the FI fill in the months of advance notice it must give to change any component that is not fixed. MAS’s April 2023 FAQs let FIs state that period in days, and describe a minimum of 30 days’ advance notice as good practice. MoneySense says banks must inform borrowers in advance, usually 30 days, before changing the interest rate on a housing loan.
  • MAS estimated in its November 2023 Financial Stability Review that, as of Q3 2023, about 30% of FIs’ mortgages were linked to board rates or fixed deposit rates, which track benchmark interest rates with some lag; about 40% were floating rate loans referencing interbank rates such as 3-month SORA, and the remaining 30% were on fixed rate packages. For deposit rates themselves, MAS Table III.3A gives each quarter the weighted average rate for all outstanding fixed deposits by tenor (qualifying full bank and full bank licensees only; deposits up to the maximum covered under the Deposit Insurance Scheme): at the end of 2026 Q2, 1.21% for 3-month and 0.97% for 12-month deposits.
Definition

What is a fixed deposit home rate?

MAS describes the interest rate on a variable rate mortgage as two components, a reference rate and a spread. For a fixed deposit home rate, the reference is a fixed deposit rate that the lending bank determines itself.

ReferenceFD rateThe bank’s fixed deposit rate for the tenor the loan is pegged to. MAS calls it an administered rate, determined by each FI, rather than a publicly available market indicator such as SORA.
Spread+ spreadAdded to the reference rate. MAS expects contracts to say which components can be revised, for example the spread over the reference rate.
Changesbank-setBanks decide how often and by how much an administered rate changes. As an example of internal discipline, MAS says banks could set triggers to review it based on changes to their cost of funds or market rates.

MoneySense’s SOR-transition guidance (SOR was discontinued on 30 June 2023) listed floating rate property loans based on banks’ board rate or fixed deposit rates among the other packages banks offered as an alternative to the SORA Conversion Package. The names “fixed deposit home rate”, “FHR”, “FDR” and “FHR8” do not appear on the MAS and MoneySense pages cited here; MAS’s wording is an administered rate, such as a fixed deposit rate.

Comparison

Fixed deposit rates beside 3-month SORA

MAS’s published figures for the end of each quarter: the weighted average rate for all outstanding 3- and 12-month fixed deposits from Table III.3A (qualifying full bank and full bank licensees only; deposits up to the Deposit Insurance Scheme maximum, SGD 100,000 in the table from Q3 2024), and 3-month compounded SORA on the last SORA value date of each quarter (28 Mar 2025, 30 Jun 2025, 30 Sep 2025, 31 Dec 2025, 31 Mar 2026, 30 Jun 2026) from MAS’s Domestic Interest Rates table. Neither fixed deposit column is any bank’s fixed deposit home rate. The change row, from 2025 Q1 to 2026 Q2 in percentage points (pp), is Money Snap’s arithmetic.

End of quarter3-month FD12-month FD3-month SORA
2025 Q11.84%2.05%2.55%
2025 Q21.64%1.87%2.05%
2025 Q31.38%1.61%1.45%
2025 Q41.35%1.32%1.19%
2026 Q11.26%1.13%1.07%
2026 Q21.21%0.97%1.08%
Change (pp)−0.63−1.08−1.47

How FIs’ mortgages were priced, Q3 2023 (MAS estimate)

Interbank floatingabout 40%
Board- or FD-linkedabout 30%
Fixed rate packages30%

MAS, Financial Stability Review, November 2023: floating loans referencing interbank rates such as 3-month SORA are typically repriced quarterly by the full extent of the change in the reference rate, while rates linked to board rates or fixed deposit rates track benchmark interest rates with some lag and saw a staggered pass-through of higher interest costs. For Q3 2022, MAS’s 2022 Review put about 38% of FI mortgages for private residential property purchases on floating packages moving in tandem with market rates, and the remaining 62% on board- or fixed-deposit-linked rates or on fixed rates over the first few years.

What it means for you

Where the fixed deposit home rate shows up

The current rateMortgage calculator
Each bank determines its own fixed deposit rates — MoneySense notes that rates and features vary across banks — so the rate behind a package is the lending bank’s own. MoneySense lists points a bank can be asked to explain: how the reference rate is derived, how often it may be reset and under what circumstances it is changed. For administered rates, MAS encourages banks to disclose at inception how the rate has moved against market rate changes.
Reading the trendSORA rate
MAS’s deposit statistics are averages across banks, not any one bank’s pegged rate. Table III.3A is a quarterly series, end of period; its latest period is 2026 Q2 (updated 30 Sep 2026), and its fixed deposit rows cover deposits up to the Deposit Insurance Scheme maximum, raised in the table from SGD 75,000 to SGD 100,000 from Q3 2024. The table above sets its 3- and 12-month figures beside 3-month compounded SORA.
Placing a fixed depositCompound interest calculator
For savers, MoneySense says fixed deposit rates and features vary across banks, and that some banks may require a minimum deposit to qualify for a promotional rate. MAS Table III.3A’s fixed deposit averages cover deposits up to the Deposit Insurance Scheme maximum, at qualifying full bank and full bank licensees only.
When deposit rates fallRefinance calculator
In the isolated cases MAS noted in its 2020–2021 inspections, banks adjusted the fixed deposit rate for the tenor to which mortgage rates were pegged more slowly than other fixed deposit rates while market rates were trending down, which delayed the downward revision of the pegged mortgage rates for a few months. Customers had the option to reprice to other mortgage packages at no cost; MoneySense calls a switch to another package at the current bank repricing, or conversion.
A rate change noticeMortgage calculator
The fact sheet states the advance notice the bank must give before changing any component that is not fixed; MAS describes at least 30 days as good practice, and MoneySense says notice is usually 30 days. MAS’s 2021 paper expects banks that revise interest rates after a mortgage starts to communicate the revision clearly and give customers sufficient notice so that they could look at alternatives.
Common misconceptions

Five things people get wrong

A fixed deposit home rate is a fixed rate.
The “fixed” refers to the deposit. MAS describes the interest rate on a variable rate mortgage as not fixed, able to be varied by the FI at any time, and gives a fixed deposit rate as an example of its administered reference rate. A fixed-rate loan, MoneySense says, does not change for the first few years and becomes variable after the fixed period; on MAS Notice 632A’s fact sheet, the FI must not change a component during the period for which it is stated as fixed.
MAS publishes each bank’s fixed deposit home rate.
Each bank determines its own: MAS describes the fixed deposit rate behind such loans as an administered rate determined by each FI, and MoneySense says fixed deposit rates vary across banks. MAS Table III.3A publishes quarterly weighted averages for all outstanding fixed deposits up to the Deposit Insurance Scheme maximum, at qualifying full bank and full bank licensees only — not any one bank’s rate.
A fixed deposit home rate moves in step with SORA.
MAS’s Financial Stability Reviews describe rates linked to board rates or fixed deposit rates as tracking market interest rates with some lag (2022) and showing a staggered pass-through of higher interest costs (2023). Floating loans referencing interbank rates such as 3-month SORA, by contrast, are typically repriced quarterly by the full extent of the change in the reference rate.
MAS’s monthly table of bank fixed deposit rates is still updated.
MAS lists that table, III.3 Interest Rates of Banks and Finance Companies, as discontinued from May 2023. It averaged rates quoted by 10 leading banks and finance companies, and its last bank fixed deposit readings are for June 2021 (0.12% for 3 months). MAS’s separate quarterly Table III.3A, which starts in 2021 Q3, gives weighted average rates for all outstanding fixed deposits, not an average of rates quoted by leading banks (it lists only the single highest quoted rate for new deposits); its latest period is 2026 Q2.
MAS’s guidance is silent on how a bank adjusts the deposit rate a mortgage is pegged to.
MAS’s Guidelines on Fair Dealing, revised on 30 May 2024, cite as Poor practice 4.10 an FI that lowered its fixed deposit rates generally, except for certain tenors to which mortgage rates were pegged, and say adjusting rates in such a selective manner may not be aligned with what customers had been led to expect. MAS’s 2021 paper also expects FI-determined mortgage rates to be adjusted in a fair manner, in line with sustained trends in the FI’s cost of funding.
Sources and reviewChecked against the MAS information paper, Notice 632A and FAQs, Fair Dealing Guidelines, Financial Stability Reviews and statistics tables, and MoneySense, on 2026-10-04

Official MAS and MoneySense rules and data, for general information only. Not financial advice.

Sources: MAS MoneySense

This page is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice. All figures and worked examples are estimates for illustrative purposes, are subject to change, and do not reflect any individual’s circumstances. Always refer to MAS and MoneySense and seek independent professional advice before making any financial decisions.