: 10-11 8-953-683-08-38: … 2011 Kremlin cash revives home loans Cash injections from state-controlled banks are due to breath life into the flagging mortgage market as it seeks to recover from the economic crisis. The government is encouraging its own banks to make home loans more affordable to a wider range of prospective buyers than before in a bid to stimulate the first signs of housing market recovery. Last month, state-run Vneshekonombank announced that it will spend 55 billion roubles on supporting its mortgage program in a bid to make mortgages affordable to broader population groups. Experts believe that measures of that kind could help to bring down interest rates, even if actually securing a loan is set to remain a challenge. “This could have an impact on interest rates”, Marina Melkonyan, head of the private and corporate loan department at Penny Lane Realty, told The Moscow News.
“Thanks to that, state banks would be able to offer more attractive interest rates on rouble denominated mortgages, although they already are ahead of everyone else. Still, requirements for potential mortgage takers are to stay rigid.” In the first months of the financial downturn, the Russian mortgage market nearly collapsed, as many banks stopped giving loans to many people, while others sharply raised interest rates. “Last year, an increase in interest rates on mortgage loans and total refusal by the majority o banks to provide mortgage loans resulted in a decline of mortgage deals and property deals in general,” Igor Roganovich, director of the elite property department at Knight Frank, told The Moscow News, adding that the proportion of house purchases involving a mortgage dwindled to five per cent in the summer of 2009, compared to about one third at the end of 2008’s third quarter. According to Roganovich, the upmarket segment was hit most. “In a situation of uncertainty on the labour market, many potential buyers of business class property – mostly hired executives – weren’t willing to sign long-term mortgage contracts,” he said. “Also, when property prices went up rapidly, like in 2006, when the increase was 60%, mortgage loans were economically viable, as the increase in prices surpassed interest payments.
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