Number of escrow accounts in equity construction continues growth in April
The indicators of project financing in equity housing construction continued to go up in April, according to the results of a survey of the banks authorised to open developers’ payment accounts and escrow accounts. However, the growth rate slightly declined compared to previous months due to the anti-coronavirus restrictions, including the suspension of works at constructions sites.
In April, the number of escrow accounts was up by 10,400, or 14%, to exceed 88,000. Equity construction participants’ funds in escrow accounts increased by 17%, to 317.9 billion rubles.
As of 1 May, banks concluded 1,146 loan agreements with developers, with the total amount of credit facilities exceeding 1.33 trillion rubles (compared to 1,064 agreements totalling nearly 1.26 trillion rubles in the previous month), of which developers have already drawn down 449.5 billion rubles.
The average interest rate on loans granted to developers ranges from 3.9% to 5.6% (across federal districts). The size of an interest rate under each particular agreement largely depends on the amount of funds accumulated in escrow accounts, as well as other factors (e.g. support programmes for developers — small and medium-sized enterprises).
To date, 46 constituent territories of Russia have completed 140 projects delivered using escrow accounts. 7,000 escrow accounts were released for these projects, and the funds transferred from them to developers and banks to repay issued loans total 15.0 billion rubles.