For a housing loan in September this year. a total of 41.25 thous. potential borrowers, compared to 37.69 thousand. a year earlier, which means an increase of 9.5%, the Credit Information Bureau (BIK) reported.
Average value of the requested loan in September this year. amounted to 333 thousand. PLN and was higher by 14.1% y / y.
The value of BIK Index of Demand for Housing Loans (BIK Index – PKM) informs about the annual dynamics of the value of requested housing loans. Another positive reading of the Index is still high at 24.9%. The value of the Index means that in September 2021, as per business day, banks and credit unions sent inquiries to BIK for housing loans for an amount higher by 24.9% compared to September 2020.
“The value of the Index was positively influenced mainly by the increase in the average amount of the requested housing loan, which once again achieved a historic record. In September 2021, the average amount of the requested loan was PLN 41,200 higher than a year ago. The value of the Index was positively influenced by Also an increase in the number of applicants. Compared to September 2020, 3,5700 more people applied for a housing loan,” said the main analyst of BIK, Waldemar Rogowski.
He added that when analyzing the current value of the Index, one should refer to September last year, when we recorded the first positive reading of the Index (+ 5.4%) in the pandemic period. The number of people applying for a loan at that time was 5.3% higher than in September 2019. It was the increase in the number of applicants that mainly contributed to the positive reading of the Index.
Compared to December 2020, the average amount of the requested loan increased by PLN 25.500 (8.3%). The increase in the average amount of the requested loan is due to the ever higher real estate prices. Both the price of m2 of usable floor space is rising, and larger properties are purchased and in better locations, i.e. more expensive, and therefore financed with a higher loan, it was also indicated.
“Despite the still high optimism on the housing loan market, it should be noted that since March this year we have had a gradual decline in the number of applicants in terms of m / m. Therefore, the demand in terms of the number of applicants is losing momentum. For all, the average amount of the requested loan, which in m / m terms has been growing for 15 months, ie from June 2020. And again in September it broke another historical record,” added Rogowski.
“A factor that may negatively affect the demand for credit, apart from the obviously high real estate prices and the low supply of real estate on the market, may be a change in the approach to calculating creditworthiness for loans over 25 years. . for 30 years), the creditworthiness is calculated as if it had been granted for a maximum of 25 years. As a consequence, this causes an increase in the value of the capital installment, and thus limits the possibility of granting a higher loan with the same income. in my opinion, a period of recovery after the decline in the value of the Index recorded in the period March-August 2020. In the following months, the Index should return to its natural level,” he concluded.
The BIK Index – PKM is calculated per business day, excluding inquiries about housing loans for amounts exceeding PLN 1 million and inquiries about the same client in the next 90 days. The index methodology was developed by the Credit Information Bureau in cooperation with the Institute for Economic Development of the Warsaw School of Economics. The index is published monthly.
Source: BIK and ISBnews
