Translated material
Mortgage acceleration
AHML is ready to start implementing the anti-crisis plan ahead of schedule
By the end of next year, the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending will allocate about 60 billion rubles. for various forms of mortgage refinancing . The state agency also intends to act as a guarantor for the issuance of mortgage bonds by banks; according to its estimates, next year the volume of guarantees could reach up to 500 billion rubles. Then, according to the heads of AHML, the domestic mortgage market may stabilize by the second half of 2009.During yesterday's press conference, AHML General Director Alexander Semenyaka noted that the global financial crisis has led to a reduction in the number of banks issuing loans for the purchase of housing; in addition, interest rates have increased. According to him, AHML intends to support the demand for this type of banking services. As you know, the agency’s function is to purchase mortgages from commercial banks. At the end of November - at the beginning of December this year, AHML expects to receive 60 billion rubles from the state. as a contribution to the authorized capital. As you know, this measure is part of the anti-crisis plan approved by the government in October. In order to begin large-scale refinancing of mortgages before budget funds are received, AHML will take out a loan of 5 billion rubles. in Sberbank. The country's largest bank opened a six-month credit line to the agency to expand the volume of mortgage refinancing. “The loan is open for six months, but we expect to repay it as soon as we receive funds from the state,” Mr. Semenyaka emphasized.
According to him, in 2008, on average, the agency monthly purchased mortgages worth about 3 billion rubles from banks. In October, these volumes decreased slightly. According to the agency, this decrease is seasonal, as was observed last year. However, starting from November, AHML plans to reach the figure of 5 billion rubles.
“The question of whether banks will issue loans to end consumers, individuals, depends on whether they will buy out mortgages,” said Alexander Semenyaka. - In order to buy a home, you need opportunities and desire. If real estate prices go down, then desire should appear. Those individuals who use real estate as an investment will transform from short-term buyers to long-term buyers. And long-term buyers, that is, citizens purchasing housing for themselves, will also come to the market.” According to Mr. Semenyaka, the state should monitor price fluctuations in the housing market and prevent excessive volatility. Stability will help increase demand, he believes.
In addition, the head of AHML said that the agency is currently negotiating with the Central Bank regarding the possible inclusion of AHML in the list of guarantors. If the agency is given the right to act as guarantors for the issuance of mortgage bonds by banks, this will become another tool for the development of mortgages. According to the plan, in 2009 the volume of guarantees may reach up to 500 billion rubles. “Right now, the main problem for mortgages is not a lack of money,” Mr. Semenyaka said. -- Thanks to timely measures of the government and the Central Bank, these issues are being resolved. The problem is for banks to be able to issue mortgage bonds, which the agency will be guaranteed to buy.” The head of AHML believes that if this mechanism works, then by the second half of 2009 the situation on the domestic mortgage market should stabilize.
Mr. Semenyaka said that the bank has a period of up to six months to issue its own mortgage bonds. However, the agency is ready to provide funds already at the stage of preparation for their release. Then the refinancing time is reduced to one month.
Another technology is wholesale refinancing. A large number of issued loans are pooled and sold to AHML. This buyback option is more profitable for large banks, explained the head of the agency. “It is much easier and faster to check one bond, because there are several thousand mortgages in one pool, than to check the quality of each mortgage,” Mr. Semenyaka emphasized.
The General Director of AHML stated that he considers the decision of banks to stop the practice of issuing mortgage loans without an advance payment to be correct. In his opinion, this practice should not be resumed in the next five years. “The borrower must be able to save, and banks must take this into account,” he said.
Representatives of the agency emphasized that AHMLs did not stop refinancing in any of the regions; only cooperation with certain banks that supplied not the highest quality loans was suspended. However, as Mr. Semenyaka emphasized, data from the international rating agency Standard & Poor's indicate that the conditions for issuing loans by Russian banks are quite strict, and they cannot be compared with subprime loans in the United States, which led to the financial crisis.