Banks granted a total of 38,398 new housing loans in Q2 2022, which means a decrease by 43.7% y / y, according to the AMRON-SARFiN report. In terms of value, the result achieved in Q2 this year. fell by 38.85% y / y to PLN 13.54 billion. The average value of a housing loan remains at the level of approx. PLN 350,000.
For the first time during the market monitoring period by the AMRON Center, the number of newly granted loans turned out to be lower than the number of loans repaid in the same period.
Subsequent increases in the interest rates of the National Bank of Poland (NBP) and the recommendation of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) regarding the use of an increased safety buffer of up to 5% in the creditworthiness analysis process, also for loans with a fixed interest rate, resulted in a tightening of banks’ lending policy in the field of housing loans . The average interest rate on the model mortgage loan at the end of the second quarter of 2022 was 9.03%, i.e. 2.25% more than at the end of the previous quarter. Compared to the same period of the previous year, the average interest rate was 6.55% higher.
“The banking sector is still in a difficult position. On the one hand, the Monetary Policy Council decides to raise the NBP interest rates for the next few months. This results in an increase in the WIBOR ratio, which in turn translates into more and more expensive servicing of mortgage loans. only the government, but also the opposition parties blame the increase in the cost of loan servicing on banks and put forward various proposals for solutions that are to ease borrowers’ repayment of loans. The more so as a mortgage loan for the purchase of an apartment, which for decades was treated as a safe, long-term financial instrument, constituting the basis for building a long-term positive relationship between the bank and the customer, has become a high-risk instrument for banks due to successive ill-considered political decisions. zyka “- president of the Center for Banking Law and Information,” commented chairman of the Housing Real Estate Financing Committee of the Polish Bank Association (ZBP), Jacek Furga.
As of June 30 this year, the number of active housing loans fell to 2,483,539. This means a decrease by 2.55% in the second quarter of 2022, i.e. by 65,021 credits less in nominal terms compared to the end of the first quarter of 2022.
In Q2, despite declining lending, increased construction activity was recorded. The total number of construction starts was 24.65% higher than in Q1, and the number of construction permits obtained increased by 19.3%. Developers started the construction of 39,888 flats, ie 25.93% more than in the previous quarter. The amendment to the so-called the Property Development Act, which imposes an obligation on developers to pay a premium to the Development Guarantee Fund. Compared to the corresponding period of 2021, there was a decrease in the number of apartment construction commenced by 17.88%. In the case of the development sector, the decrease was 16.12%, it was also indicated.
The second quarter of 2022 brought a diversification of the dynamics of average apartment prices in the researched locations. The rising prices, however, did not exceed the level of the increase in the consumer price index recorded by the Central Statistical Office (GUS), which for the second quarter of 2022 amounted to 5.8%. The highest increase in the average nominal price was recorded in Łódź – 4.78%. and Wrocław – 4.77%. On the other hand, prices in Warsaw and Poznań fell by 1.17% and 2.01%, respectively.
According to the report for the second quarter of 2022, the rental market has stabilized somewhat after the dynamic changes recorded in the first quarter of this year. Some refugees who sought refuge in Poland after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine returned to their home country or left for other European Union countries, which contributed to lowering the pressure of demand on the level of flat rental rates in the largest Polish cities.Nevertheless, increases in average rental rates were again observed in all the locations surveyed. The highest increase in relation to the level of rent recorded in the previous quarter was recorded in Poznań – 5.57%. Rental rates in Katowice grew slightly slower – by 4.28%. The average rent for a flat in Warsaw in the second quarter of 2022 amounted to PLN 2,087. and was higher than the quarter reported earlier by 2.2% (PLN 45).
Source: AMRON-SARFiN and ISBnews
