Mortgage lending volumes reach 1.5 trillion rubles in 2016

According to the statistics on the Bank of Russia website, volumes of housing mortgage loans in 2016 hit 1.5 trillion rubles, the second highest level (after 2014) on record.

By the end of the year outstanding housing mortgage debt reached 4.5 trillion rubles, exceeding last year’s figures by 13%. The share of FX loans in the portfolio fell by one half to 1.6%.

In December 2016, guided by seasonal increase in demand and completion of the state mortgage subsidy programme, mortgage lending volumes were the highest since March 2016, hitting the level of 184 billion rubles.

In contrast, average interest rate on ruble loans in December 2016 dropped to five-year low of 11.55% versus 12.92% in December 2015.