Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to revise the terms of the preferential mortgage program.

With such an initiative on Monday, April 25, the head of state addressed the participants of the meeting on economic issues.

“The dynamics here are still weaker than forecasts, and in order to make the purchase of housing more affordable for citizens, in order to stimulate construction in general, I propose to reduce the rate on preferential mortgages from 12 ... to 9% per annum,” Putin said.

In addition, the president instructed to extend the preferential mortgage program until the end of this year.

Recall that at the beginning of the year, with the key rate of the Central Bank of 9.5% per annum, citizens could take a preferential mortgage at 7% per annum.

At that time, the maximum loan amount was the same for all regions of the country and amounted to 3 million rubles.

Meanwhile, at the end of February, against the backdrop of large-scale Western sanctions against Russia, the Central Bank sharply raised its key rate to 20% per annum.

Such a measure was necessary to stabilize the situation on the financial market and curb inflation.

Following the increase in the key rate of the Central Bank, Russian banks began to raise interest on housing loans - up to an average of 23-24% per annum.

Under these conditions, the government decided to increase the rate on preferential mortgages to 12% per annum and at the same time increase the maximum loan amount: for Moscow, St. Petersburg, Moscow and Leningrad regions, this is 12 million rubles, and for the rest of the country - 6 million.

In early April, the risks to Russia's financial stability ceased to grow, and the pace of inflation slowed down, the Central Bank noted.

As a result, the Central Bank lowered the key rate from 20% to 17% per annum.

According to Vladimir Putin, the current situation makes it possible to take a step towards lowering the preferential mortgage rate from 12% to 9% per annum.

Irina Radchenko, Vice President of the International Academy of Mortgage and Real Estate, believes that the number of buyers of new housing in Russia has more than halved compared to the beginning of 2022.

Developers, in turn, are experiencing difficulties with financing and need investments.

“Bank loans for developers have risen in price significantly, while demand among buyers has declined.

Therefore, the policy of lowering interest rates on subsidized mortgages is intended in many ways to help restore the interest of Russians in real estate, and for developers to fulfill their obligations on already approved construction projects.

That is, the measures of the authorities are aimed at preventing a collapse in the construction industry, ”Radchenko explained in an interview with RT.

As the specialist noted, preferential mortgages are still less affordable than at the beginning of the year.

However, banks under the program often offer their customers loans at a lower interest rate.

Developers themselves are actively cooperating with financial institutions.

So, in order to attract customers, banks and developers work together to develop anti-crisis programs and offer loans to citizens on favorable terms, Radchenko added.

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In addition, even in the face of sanctions and changes in the key rate of the Central Bank in Russia, the conditions of other mortgage programs still remain unchanged.

For family mortgages, the rate remains at the level of 6% per annum, for rural - 3%, and for the Far East - 2%.

“Due to low mortgage rates and preferential government programs in 2020 and 2021, banks issued record volumes of loans, and the construction industry launched large residential areas.

So even now, in order to prevent the rate of decline in housing commissioning, low mortgage rates are very necessary, ”Artyom Deev, head of the AMarkets analytical department, said in a conversation with RT.

The expert did not rule out that in the near future the Central Bank will further reduce its key rate to 15% per annum, which should have a positive impact on the mortgage market.

At the same time, the cost of housing, according to Irina Radchenko, may also decrease slightly until the end of 2022.

“If we talk about real estate prices, then during the summer they will continue to hold on to current values.

However, in autumn the cost per square meter can be reduced by up to 20%.

This will continue to be due to relatively low demand — those who wanted to, mostly took out a mortgage during the pandemic.

Moreover, against the backdrop of a relatively calm interest of Russians in real estate, developers will be forced to hold promotions in order to avoid overstocking the market and sell the constructed facilities,” suggested Irina Radchenko.