The Russian mortgage market

Dmitry Isaakovich Leus

The crisis years of 2008 and 2009 were characterized by a major decline in all types of lending. Most affected was the sector of long-term personal loans, especially mortgage lending. Dmitry IsaakovichLeus

From January to November 2011, the volume of new mortgages reached RUB 536.7bn. These figures even exceeded the pre-crisis level of 2008, as over 392 752 new mortgage loans were issued to the population. Compared with the same period of the previous year - when the authorities began to actively criticize the situation - the number of loans doubled. Dmitry Isaakovich Leus

The number of loans issued over 2011 is thus in line with official forecasts. In addition to being a case of successful government intervention, these indicators give reason to believe that 2011 will surpass 2008 in total mortgage volume.

This situation was heavily criticized by the government, which was trying to find ways of improving the situation. The main issue was the high mortgage rates which became unaffordable for most of the population and resulted in social tensions.

At last, government intervention led to tangible results and banks started to adjust their mortgage policy.

This positive trend is confirmed by the Chairman of Bank , Dmitry IsaakovichLeus. According to Mr. Leus, the number of approved credit applications at Bank  increased 6 times compared with 2010. Such an impressive growth in lending, according to Dmitry Leus, can be traced directly to the government’s successful interest rate policy. Bank ’s current interest rates range between 9.95% and 13.75%, in line with the Russian average of 11.6%.

One of the success factors of the Bank’s lending activities, according to Dmitry Leus, is detailed client information on the full range of mortgage products, in addition to a transparent pricing policy. Transparency may be the main reason why Bank ’s default rate is only 1%, against an all-Russian average of 6.6%.