The property development loan portfolio experienced a moderate growth of 2% in the fourth quarter of 2024, following a more substantial increase of 9% in the previous quarter. This deceleration occurred despite banks actively financing ongoing projects. The slowdown was attributed to developers commissioning numerous residential properties by the end of the year and subsequently repaying their outstanding loans with funds released from escrow accounts.
These fund releases led to an 8% decrease in balances within escrow accounts, which dropped to ₽6.4 trillion during the fourth quarter. Consequently, the coverage of outstanding development loans, including new ones, with escrow account balances also decreased by 8 percentage points to 72%. In conjunction with these changes and a general rise in market interest rates, the average rate on property development loans increased to 9.4% per annum. However, this rate remained significantly below the prevailing market interest rate.
Further details can be found in the review titled “Project Finance in Housing Construction in 2024 Q4.”
