The volume of mortgage loans provided to Russians in 2021 may reach 5.8 trillion rubles, which will be a new record in the entire history of the market, Anatoly Pechatnikov, Deputy President and Chairman of VTB Management Board, told reporters during a press conference.
“The mortgage market in Russia has been breaking records for the fourth year in a row. This year we expect it to grow to 5.8 trillion rubles, which will be one third higher than the result of last year, even despite the modernization of the state program in July, ”he said.
According to VTB, for the first nine months of this year, banks provided mortgage loans to Russians totaling 4.6 trillion rubles. This is 35% higher than the comparable period in 2020 and 4.5% – for the entire 2020.
Pechatnikov noted that the demand of citizens for mortgages remains “stably high”, despite the increase in the key rate of the Central Bank: since March it has grown by 3.25 percentage points and is now the maximum since July 2019 of 7.5% per annum. So, according to VTB, in 2022 the volume of housing lending in Russia will be comparable to the results of 2021. This is due to the development of mortgage programs for certain categories of the population, as well as the expansion of preferential mortgages at 7% for individual housing construction, Pechatnikov explained.
Earlier, VTB predicted an increase in mortgage issuance in Russia at the end of 2021 above 5 trillion rubles. Last year, according to Dom.RF, the figure was 4.3 trillion rubles. – 50% more than in 2019. Thus, in 2020, citizens issued 1.7 million loans for the purchase of housing, an increase of 35% in annual terms.
Nevertheless, the chairman of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina announced on September 16 that the phase of active growth in mortgage lending in Russia is nearing completion. The head of the regulator pointed out the need to ensure that the pace of housing lending grew in line with the increase in real incomes of the population. Against the background of signs of “overheating” of the mortgage market, the Central Bank from August 1 increased macroprudential premiums for banks in terms of issuing mortgage loans with a low down payment – from 15 to 20%. It was assumed that due to this, the dynamics of this type of lending would normalize.
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