Let's go all in: the authorities are preparing measures to support housing demand
The government is developing measures to revive demand for housing. Among them are allowing banks to use anti—crisis reserves pledged for loans and easing mortgage conditions. Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin instructed the Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Construction and Dom, to work out such measures.Russian Federation," Izvestia learned. Representatives of banks say that this will allow them to free up funds and approve more applications for housing loans, developers expect increased activity in the market. Today, 20% of developers are at risk, Khusnullin previously stated. On the other hand, the disbandment of reserves may negatively affect the stability of banks. Whether the Central Bank will support this measure and what risks there are is in the Izvestia article.
Banks may be allowed to disband their capital buffer
The authorities are preparing measures to support housing demand and increase the availability of mortgage programs for privileged categories of citizens. Following a meeting in June, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin instructed the Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Construction, and Dom.The Russian Federation" to work out the possibility of allowing banks to "disband the macroprudential capital buffer" accumulated from December 2022 to May 2025. These reserves were used for loans with a down payment of at least 20% and are intended to mitigate economic shocks. Izvestia reviewed the minutes of the meeting.
— The buffer system was introduced after the global financial crisis of 2007-2009. Reserve capital buffers for banks are shock absorbers during periods of economic stress. Their presence allows them to absorb losses while maintaining the provision of key services to the real sector of the economy," Dmitry Tortev, a member of the expert council of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition, told Izvestia. — In fact, the government is considering the possibility of relaxing the policy of banks in order to support the construction industry.
At the same time, according to the expert, it should be understood that the anti-crisis reserves of banks guarantee greater strength of the country's financial system, so mitigation measures, apparently, will be taken with caution and taking into account coordination between departments.
The share of preferential mortgage programs in the total volume of loans is still high and will remain at 80%. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said that 20% of developers today are at risk of bankruptcy, and market mortgages in Russia have practically ceased to exist. According to the official, if the situation with the key interest rate lasts for another six months, there will be no influx of money into the industry, and residents will not continue to invest in real estate, the share of such developers will exceed 30%.
Also among the measures being worked out by the authorities is the abolition of surcharges to the risk coefficients for newly issued mortgage loans with state support and a reduction in the size of the basic risk coefficients for preferential mortgages, taking into account the low level of overdue debt, follows from the protocol. In April, the Bank of Russia reported that due to the established surcharges, banks had accumulated a capital buffer on consumer loans in the amount of 834 billion rubles.
— We fully support the proposed measures. They will free up the capital of banks and, consequently, support the volume of preferential mortgages, while maintaining comfortable lending conditions for Russians and ensuring housing affordability, the VTB press service told Izvestia.
What is the reason for the reduction in mortgage issuance?
The reason for the reduction in mortgage loans was, among other things, the cancellation of commissions charged by banks from citizens and developers when issuing such preferential programs, follows from the minutes of the meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister. These fees appeared in 2023, when state-backed mortgages became unprofitable for banks. Developers provided subsidies to the credit institution (this was considered as compensation for lost income).
In April 2025, the Central Bank proposed to ban banks from charging fees for preferential mortgage programs. Sberbank and VTB have canceled them for developers under this program since mid-May.
— The amount of fees for granting preferential mortgages in 2025 varied and on average could be about 5-10% or more of the loan amount. It depended on the bank and the terms of the specific program. In fact, the mechanism was used to ensure that banks continued to issue such loans. However, such fees increased the cost of loans, limiting their availability to citizens. This is also why it was decided to cancel them. At the same time, it should be understood that, without receiving commission payments, banks lost interest in issuing preferential mortgages and began to consider applications more strictly," Dmitry Tortev added.
At the end of July, VTB and Alfa-Bank announced an increase in the minimum down payment on preferential mortgages to 30.1%. Previously, it was 20.1%.
Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Construction, and Dom.Russian Federation", the Central Bank, as well as the largest banks and development companies.
— The Deputy Prime Minister gives instructions based on the results of an in-depth analysis of the situation, so we can hope for a positive result. The first effect of the cancellation of commissions was a significant increase in activity in the family mortgage segment. However, in the following months, this activity gradually came to naught, banks again began to impose increased requirements on borrowers (for example, an increased initial payment), and approve loans less often," said Maxim Fedorchenko, president of the Association of Construction Organizations of the Novosibirsk Region.
He continued: additional bank fees have appeared, only now they are formally not for issuing loans, but for creating better conditions for the borrower, for example, for reducing the initial payment. So the demand for housing on a family mortgage began to decline again.
In May 2025, the issuance of preferential mortgages fell by 54% in number and 51% in monetary terms by May 2024: only 38 thousand such loans were issued in the amount of 216.7 billion rubles, Kirill Varentsov, director of the fintech direction of the Plus group, Chairman of the Board of Aeroplane Bank, told Izvestia. In June of this year, disbursements increased to 263 billion, but this is still 2.5 times less than in June 2024, when borrowers applied for preferential loans before the cancellation of the massive state support program.
In the first half of 2025, banks issued almost 400,000 mortgage loans worth about 1.5 trillion, Dom.RF reported. In terms of quantity, this is 55% less than in the first six months of last year, and in total — by 47%.
Of course, if all of the above measures, or at least part of them, are taken, this will allow banks to become more loyal when considering mortgage applications, which, accordingly, will make it more accessible, the specialist believes.
— In fact, all these proposals are aimed at increasing the interest of banks and their ability to issue mortgages with state support, even with a very low down payment from real estate buyers, — said Dmitry Khalin, CEO and Managing Partner of Intermark Urban Real Estate.
In general, since the beginning of the year, the Central Bank has been systematically reducing these surcharges, especially for loans where the buyer of real estate contributes 30% or more of the property price, he recalled. But now, apparently, lawmakers want to create conditions for banks so that preferential mortgages are issued comfortably when the buyer of real estate has 20% or less of funds.
The proposed measures can stimulate the growth of preferential mortgage issuance by 15% or more, Kirill Varentsov added.
— Macroprudential surcharges and increased risk ratios significantly limit access to loans, including for solvent borrowers. Their cancellation and the use of accumulated capital can bring this category of customers back to the market and support the issuance. The effect will depend on the speed of banks' adaptation to the new conditions," he said.
Risks for the banking system
However, according to Dmitry Tortev, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank may not take measures to mitigate financial and banking regulation, justifying this by the need to ensure economic stability.
Such reserves are the global standard for the stability of the banking system, and their disbandment may negatively affect the stability of banks, said Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the HSE Center for Market Research. The expert explained that if the country's largest banks are able to fulfill their obligations even with the implementation of the measures under discussion, then hundreds of small organizations, many of which operate in remote regions of the country, left without reserves, will not be able to guarantee such reliability.
According to the expert, the innovations under consideration will provide support to the construction industry, but banks, left without an "airbag," can potentially reduce investment programs in other areas of the economy. Georgy Ostapkovich concluded that it would be more appropriate to take measures to increase household incomes or reduce the key interest rate, which would generally increase the availability of mortgages for citizens.
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