In July 2022, the average mortgage loan term in Russia increased to almost 23 years.
The value was the highest in the history of observations.
Such data on Tuesday, August 30, announced the Central Bank.
As follows from the materials of the Central Bank, a year ago, Russians took out a mortgage for an average of just over 20 years, and a year before that - for about 18 years.
The growth of the indicator is largely due to the rise in the price of real estate in the country, Artyom Deev, head of the analytical department at AMarkets, believes.
“Over the past two years, the cost of apartments in the primary market on average across the country has risen by 50-70%, and in large cities it has almost doubled.
Accordingly, the size of loans also increased significantly, which is why the terms for which loans are issued began to stretch, ”the interlocutor of RT explained.
According to the statistics of the Central Bank, in two years the average size of a mortgage in Russia increased by about 1.5 times - up to 3.7 million rubles.
Under these conditions, obtaining a mortgage for a longer period makes it possible to make servicing a loan more comfortable for citizens, experts explain.
“Most Russians who want to take out a mortgage are considering reducing monthly payments precisely by increasing the loan period.
At the same time, banks have recently been increasingly issuing loans for 30 years at once, respectively, the average statistical indicator in the country is also growing, ”Konstantin Aprelev, vice president of the Russian Guild of Realtors, explained in a conversation with RT.
It is noteworthy that against the background of an increase in the average mortgage term in Russia, the overdue debt of citizens on housing loans has noticeably decreased.
Thus, over two years, the corresponding amount decreased by almost 12.2 billion rubles - up to 55 billion, according to the materials of the Central Bank.
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© Nina Zotina
Russian banks, together with developers, are increasing the proposed mortgage terms, including to stimulate demand in the real estate market.
Georgy Svirin, a specialist in international financial markets of the FINMIR marketplace, shared this opinion in an interview with RT.
“If demand continues to be low, the cost per square meter may collapse, and this will not be beneficial for either banks or developers, as they will incur losses.
Therefore, business in various ways offers the population the opportunity to purchase housing, ”said Svirin.
Recall that in the spring of 2022, the mortgage market in Russia sank sharply.
So, according to the Central Bank, if back in March banks issued about 162.8 thousand housing loans for 521.3 billion rubles, then in April citizens issued only 49.4 thousand loans for 161.6 billion rubles, and in May - 36.6 thousand for 139.7 billion rubles.
The main reasons for the fall in demand for mortgages, experts call the increased uncertainty in the economy, as well as the actions of the Central Bank.
At the end of February, against the backdrop of large-scale Western sanctions against Moscow, the Central Bank more than doubled its key rate - from 9.5% to 20% per annum.
Such a measure was necessary to curb inflation.
At the same time, Russian banks began to sharply raise interest rates on loans, and already in the second half of March, market mortgage rates approached 20.8% per annum.
“Few Russians were ready to take out a mortgage in the spring, and the banks themselves also often refused many potential borrowers due to the rise in the key rate of the Central Bank.
However, at the moment, the Central Bank has already lowered its rate to 8% per annum, and by the end of this year it may decrease further, which allows credit organizations to increase the availability of mortgages for citizens,” Georgy Svirin said.
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According to DOM.RF, today the average market mortgage rate for new buildings in Russia has already dropped following the key one and is now close to 10% per annum.
In addition, today Russians can apply for housing loans at subsidized rates under existing state programs.
In particular, we are talking about preferential mortgages at 7% and family mortgages at 6% per annum.
Against the background of the increased availability of loans, the mortgage market also began to gradually recover.
According to the Central Bank, in July, 91.6 thousand housing loans worth 341.6 billion rubles were issued in the country.
However, demand is still noticeably lower than at the beginning of the year, so experts do not expect real estate prices to rise in the foreseeable future.
“Moreover, the cost per square meter in Russia will moderately decline for the time being.
It is possible that this trend will continue until the summer of 2023,” Konstantin Aprelev concluded.