Mortgage rates plummet to five-year lows

The weighted average monthly rate on housing mortgage loans (HML) issued in rubles continued to fall. In April 2017, according to Bank of Russia data, the rate sank to a five-year low and stood at 11.45%.

Over the first four months of 2017, credit institutions issued 260.0 thousand HMLs to the amount of 470.8 billion rubles. The increase of the average HML from 1.71 to 1.81 million rubles boosted year-on-year lending volumes by 5.4%.

As of 1 May 2017, total outstanding HMLs reached 4,607.9 billion rubles on account of ruble-denominated loans. Outstanding foreign currency HMLs contracted two-fold year on year both in absolute and relative terms, totalling 56.3 billion rubles or 1.2% of the HML portfolio.