Banks and SKOKs sent requests for home loans to the Credit Information Bureau (BIK) in March for an amount 68.7% higher than a year earlier, the bureau said. The number of applications increased by 33.5% y-o-y to 29,66 thousand, while on a monthly basis – it rose by 11.3%.
The average value of a housing loan applied for in March this year was. PLN 430,000, up 15.3% y-o-y, and up 0.6% month-on-month, it stated.
“Predictably, demand for home loans slowed down after the end of applications under the ‘2% safe credit’ scheme. It is now lower than in H2 2023, but nevertheless it remains significantly higher (by 30-40%) than in H1 last year. Despite concerns, it has therefore not fallen back to the level before the programme was launched,” commented BIK Group chief analyst Waldemar Rogowski.
According to him, the more than 33% year-on-year increase in the number of applicants is largely the result of last year’s low base, the ‘freezing’ of demand for home loans in March last year, following the high level of interest rates and high inflation.
“The second important aspect determining the level of the Index is the increase in the average amount of loan applied for to £430,000 – an amount more than 15% higher than in March 2023. However, it is 1.2% lower than in December last year, which is also a result of the absence of the Borrower Support Programme. Beneficiaries of the 2% Safe Credit Programme applied for and took out loans for a higher average amount compared to ‘market’ borrowers. However, real wage growth with stable interest rates is successfully increasing creditworthiness and, consequently, will allow an increase in the average loan applied for in the following months of this year,” explained the chief analyst.
“The March figures are better than expected forecasts, due to a smaller than expected negative impact of the end of the Borrower Support Programme on the number of people applying for a home loan. Analyses at the beginning of the year indicated that the number of applicants would halve, but the drop is around 30%. Demand for housing loans has therefore not returned to the low level before the BK2% programme was launched,” Rogowski concluded.
Source: BIK and ISBnews
