BIK: Housing loan sales up 129.2% y/y to PLN 7.69bn in March

Sales of housing loans increased by 129.2% y/y to PLN 7.685bn in March 2024, according to data from the Credit Information Bureau (BIK). In volume terms, the number of housing loans granted last month increased by 87.3% y/y to 18,500.

In January-March this year, in volume terms, the number of housing loans granted increased by 185.7% y-o-y to 65.2 thousand, while in value terms it increased by 254.7% y-o-y to PLN 27.112 billion.

"In March 2024, banks granted 18.5 thousand housing loans worth PLN 7.7 billion. The still high sales are influenced by higher creditworthiness. This was mainly contributed to by real wage growth (around 10%) and the stabilisation of interest rates. This, in turn, has translated into a higher value of credit granted. The average amount of a housing loan is now already PLN 416.51 thousand and is 22.4% higher than a year ago," BIK Group chief analyst Waldemar Rogowski commented.

The monthly reading of the Home Loan Portfolio Quality Index in March 2024 was 1.23%. Over the last 12 months (March 2023 to March 2024), the quality of the portfolio has improved, as evidenced by a decrease in the Index by (-0.43 percentage points).

"The current Quality Index reading is an improvement on the one from a month ago (down -0.18 percentage points). The delinquency of PLN loans is at a low level, and loans already made in a higher interest rate environment are being repaid very well. In this situation, it is difficult to justify the advisability of extending credit moratoria this year, especially for loans taken out at a periodically fixed rate. For those who may have difficulties in repaying their housing loans, there is a dedicated instrument, the Borrower Support Fund (BSCF), access to which is also to be liberalised," Rogowski pointed out.

He added that a separate phenomenon, on the other hand, is the deteriorating quality of loans indexed and denominated to the Swiss franc. In this case, the reason is not due to the credit risk, but to the legal risk, which is related to court proceedings.

Source: BIK and ISBnews