Homebuyers should “exercise prudence” in taking out new mortgages as interest rates are expected to increase, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in its Financial Stability Review released on Dec. 6, 2021. It also advised against undertaking new loan commitments for highly leveraged households. Household debt in Singapore has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, according to the report. As a share of gross domestic product (GDP), household debt stood at 70 percent in the third quarter of 2021, 3 percentage points higher than in the fourth quarter of 2019. Over the past year, the total value of household debt in Singapore rose by 6.8 percent, driven by surging housing loans as both housing price and transaction volume increased. Despite an economic slump amid the pandemic, soaring real estate prices are now seen in many parts of the world. Luxembourg saw a 17 percent jump in housing price in 2020, according to …