Frozen construction

VTB-24 announced a moratorium on mortgages for housing under construction

Due to the global financial crisis, Russian citizens have fewer and fewer opportunities to take out mortgage loans. Banks have already increased loan rates en masse and tightened requirements for clients. In addition, the population is less likely to get a mortgage for housing under construction. On Friday, one of the leaders in retail lending, VTB-24 Bank, announced the introduction of a moratorium on accepting applications for such loans. The bank itself explains this by the prevailing market conditions. It is possible that other banks will introduce restrictions on issuing mortgages for housing under construction. Analysts unanimously argue that next year we can expect a slowdown in the pace of development of this type of retail lending (for more details, see “Vremya Novostei” of October 3) . The government also admits this, although they are trying to demonstrate optimism.

As Anatoly Pechatnikov, director of the bank’s mortgage lending department, notes in an official statement from VTB-24, “in the current situation, when forming a mortgage loan portfolio, we must take into account the requirements of investors. We are forced to suspend the mortgage lending program for the purchase of housing under construction, since the portfolios formed through such loans do not meet the requirements of the organizers of securitization transactions.” As you know, a mortgage for housing under construction has always been considered very risky due to the danger that the housing will not be completed. However, such real estate has always been in high demand among the population - its cost is lower than on the secondary market.

For those types of mortgages that remain with the bank, VTB-24 is raising rates. In ruble loans, rates will increase by 0.7 percentage points, in foreign currency - by 0.4 percentage points. The bank will also apply additional surcharges to the base interest rate for certain categories of clients. For borrowers whose income is confirmed by a certificate of income in the form of the bank, the premium will be one percentage point.

The fact that Russian banks have begun to issue fewer mortgage loans is also recognized by the authorities. According to First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, “not all banks will be able to finance construction programs and mortgages.” At the same time, he recalled: “The government decided to make an additional contribution to the authorized capital of AHML, so that liquidity in this market will be supported, and there is a special program to ensure that mortgage mechanisms work against the background of what is observed in the interbank sector. We understand how to further develop. Maybe not at the same pace as in the previous two years, but mortgage schemes will grow.” And according to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, the global financial crisis is reducing the number of mortgage loans, but will not become an obstacle to the Affordable Housing national project. However, in this case, political statements can easily be verified by statistics on mortgage loans, housing under construction and prices on the real estate market.

Natalia ROMANOVA