The second largest Russian bank, VTB, will increase mortgage rates on housing under construction and finished by 1 pp from January 11, his representative told Vedomosti. The minimum rate for both programs will thus reach 10.3%. The terms of mortgage lending within the framework of preferential state programs will not change, said a representative of VTB.
Now, according to the VTB website, the 9.3% rate is available for payroll clients when making an online application and using digital services. Without these three conditions, the mortgage rate on new buildings and finished real estate in VTB is 10.2% – each of the conditions gives 0.3 percentage points. discounts.
Refinancing of mortgages from other banks will be available at 10.6%. The rate is now at 9.4%, according to the site. For borrowers who have received loan approval before January 11, the terms will not be revised.
VTB is raising mortgage rates for the third month in a row. The last time loans for new buildings and secondary housing rose in price on December 9 by 0.3 percentage points, up to 9.3% per annum. Prior to that, the bank raised rates in November by 0.7 percentage points. In December, the state bank issued more than 40,000 mortgage loans for almost 170 billion rubles, which was the best result in its history.
The increase in mortgage rates at VTB is explained by two factors, the first of which is a sharp increase in the key rate of the Central Bank on December 17, immediately by 1 percentage point. up to 8.5%. Further tightening of the monetary policy (MCP) of the regulator will force Russian banks to change the conditions for credit products again, said a representative of VTB.
In 2021, the key rate doubled and reached its maximum level since October 2017. According to the Chairman of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina, inflation in Russia will return to the target of 4% not earlier than the second half of 2022, in this regard, monetary policy until it stays tough. The key rate will decline to a neutral range of 5-6% no earlier than mid-2023, Nabiullina said in November.
The second factor that influenced VTB’s decision was the increase in mortgage rates by other banks. The weighted average rate of the 15 largest mortgage banks by the end of the year for primary housing was 9.58%, for secondary – 9.62%, follows from the monitoring of “Dom.RF” on December 30. Since November 21, rates have increased by 0.7 and 0.35 percentage points, respectively.
Sberbank last raised mortgage rates on December 6 by 0.5 percentage points to 9.3% for housing in new buildings, the base rate reached 10.6% per annum. The minimum rate on mortgages on secondary real estate increased by 0.6 percentage points to 9.3%, and the base rate to 10.9%. The refinancing rate increased from 8.6% to 9.6%.
In eight banks out of 15, the minimum rate already exceeds 10% for apartments in new buildings, in six – for secondary housing (the price of an apartment is 7.8 million rubles, a loan of 5.5 million, an initial payment of 30%, a term of 15 years , any client). At the same time, in those banks where the rate is below 10%, you can often get it on certain conditions: to be salary clients, apply online, pay a one-time commission, etc.
In January-November 2021, the size of mortgage loans issued reached 5.1 trillion rubles, follows from the latest monitoring by Frank RG. Monthly payouts rose for the fourth month in a row after the July collapse due to changes in the terms of the preferential program. In November, banks issued 518 billion rubles. (+ 2.4% per month) mortgage loans. At the end of 2021, Frank RG predicts the amount of issued loans at 5.5 trillion rubles.
The size of mortgage lending on December 1 increased by 30.1% in annual terms, according to the materials of the Central Bank. He will also consider the feasibility of additional macroprudential policy measures on mortgage loans in the first quarter of 2022, taking into account the data on the impact of monetary policy on lending activity and on lending standards for the fourth quarter of 2021.
VTB, against the backdrop of reaching double-digit rates on market mortgage programs, once again drew attention to the need to make a decision in advance on the modernization and extension of preferential mortgages at 7% to support socially significant categories of the population (including doctors and teachers), as well as residents of single-industry towns. According to the state program at 7%, banks are still keeping low rates even after changing the terms of the program – 5.87% per annum, according to Dom.RF. It should be completed in July 2022.
True, the Central Bank does not yet see the need to extend the state program: this can provoke a strong rise in prices and reduce the affordability of housing, Nabiullina noted on November 30.
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