Housing loans in August. The highest in 15 months
In the period January – August this year. banks and credit unions granted 26 percent fewer housing loans than a year earlier. However, the previous month turned out to be quite successful in this respect. The largest number of such loans has been granted since May last year.
Data from the Credit Information Bureau (BIK) presented this week show that in the period January – August this year. banks and credit unions granted 79.5 thousand housing loans. This is a decrease of 26%. compared to the same period last year. The total value of these loans is PLN 28.672 billion. In this case, we are dealing with a decrease of 22.5%. compared to the period January-August 2022. Chief analyst of the BIK Group prof. Waldemar Rogowski points out that the previous month was extremely successful for housing loans.
Housing loans. Best from May 2022.
– August was very good for housing loans, confirming the significant recovery that has been visible for several months. In numerical terms, banks granted 13,300 loans and this is the highest level of monthly lending since May last year. In terms of value, banks granted housing loans in the amount of PLN 5.1 billion – also the highest since May 2022 – emphasizes prof. Rogowski.
– What are the sources of the lending growth? There’s a clique of them. It is the result of the revival of demand for housing loans as a result of an increase in creditworthiness, which was contributed to by the liberalization of supervisory requirements in the calculation of creditworthiness – a reduction in the required level of the interest rate buffer, a decrease in the WIBOR level in anticipation of declines in interest rates, a slowdown price growth dynamics (disinflation), as well as salary increases. The increase in creditworthiness translated into an increase in the value of the loan granted – he adds.
The first effects of the 2% Safe Credit.
Currently, the average value of the loan granted is PLN 384.24 thousand. PLN and is higher by 17.6%. than last year. The chief analyst of the BIK Group points out that the August lending activity already shows clear manifestations of the government’s Safe Credit 2% program launched a month earlier.
– Four out of ten housing loans were granted by banks under this program. Rising real estate prices also accelerate the decision to take out a housing loan for people who, for formal reasons, cannot be beneficiaries of the government program – emphasizes prof. Rogowski.
By August 31, 2023, banks reported 1.147 million accounts subject to credit holidays worth PLN 284 billion.
