the debts of every second mortgage holder in the fourth quarter exceeded 80% of income – Kommersant

Over the past two years, the share of issuing mortgages to people with high debt loads has increased by one and a half times, said Bank of Russia Chairman Elvira Nabiullina during speeches in the State Duma. According to her, in the fourth quarter of 2023, almost every second mortgage borrower took out a mortgage with the prospect that he would have to spend more than 80% of his income on payments.

Ms. Nabiullina reported at a State Duma meeting that the growth in mortgage lending amounted to 35% over the year. According to her, this leads to higher prices for housing and an increase in the debt load of citizens. “In the fourth quarter of last year, almost every second borrower, 45%, received a mortgage with the prospect that he would have to spend more than 80% of his income on payments,” she said (the speech was broadcast on the State Duma website).

The Chairman of the Bank of Russia believes that the positive effect of preferential mortgage programs is being “eaten up” by rising prices. Over the four years of mass preferential mortgages, average prices for apartments have approximately doubled in the primary market, wages and incomes have increased by approximately 1.5 times. Thus, housing price growth is outpacing income. The head of the Central Bank reported that in 2023 the gap between prices for primary and secondary housing continued to grow, it amounted to 44%, compared with the historical norm of about 10%.

About the records of mortgages in individual housing construction against the backdrop of the general stagnation of housing loans – in the material “Kommersant” “The mortgage went home”.

Leonid Uvarchev