Expert: July mortgage lending falls 30% on change in state plan

MOSCOW, Aug 18 (PRIME) – Russian banks faced a 30% drop in mortgage loans in July compared to June due to a seasonal trend and tighter terms of the preferential mortgage program, an Equifax credit bureau official told PRIME on Wednesday.

According to the company, only 53,900 mortgage contracts were signed in July, or 30% less than last month. In money terms, mortgages fell by 33% to 177,800 rubles.

An average mortgage loan decreased by 4.5% to 3.3 million rubles.

“The lower number is tied to two major factors. On the one hand, its seasonality, when business activity, including mortgage sector, fall in the summer. For instance, in the pre-pandemic 2019 we had a similar seasonal pattern, though slightly less distinct,” General Director Oleg Lagutkin said.

“In 2020, the sector recovered after the restrictions caused by the pandemic, this is why there was no seasonal pattern.”

The second factor was the change in the conditions of the program of state support for mortgage lending. As a result, the program went almost ceased to exist in the larger cities where mortgage issuance was the highest both by quantity and in money terms, he said.

Lagutkin expects steadily high mortgage issuance in the coming months and growth in the fourth quarter of this year, Lagutkin assumed.

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