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- IT's a place for yourself: authorities discuss allowing IT workers working for Moscow to take out mortgages at 6%
IT's a place for yourself: authorities discuss allowing IT workers working for Moscow to take out mortgages at 6%
Russia is discussing the possibility of allowing IT specialists who live in the regions but work for a Moscow-based company to take a preferential mortgage at 6%, Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov confirmed to Izvestia. According to him, some fine-tuning of the parameters is possible, but the Finance Ministry does not support any expansion of the programs. Such a change will help support regional housing markets, market participants believe. At the same time, it will not lead to overheating. What will happen to the prices of apartments in new buildings - in the material "Izvestia".
How the conditions of IT-mortgagemay change
The authorities may change the parameters of IT-mortgage. Discussed the possibility of allowing IT-specialists who live in the regions, but work for a Moscow company, to take preferential housing loans at 6%, confirmed "Izvestia" Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov. According to him, in general, some fine-tuning of the program is possible, if the Ministry of Finance decides that it will help to achieve the goals more effectively.
However, the Ministry of Finance is now conservative about soft loans, emphasized Ivan Chebeskov. He specified: the Ministry does not support any expansion of the programs. If the proposed adjustments will only slightly change the parameters or narrow the program, we will support them, said the Deputy Minister of Finance.
Last time the government changed the terms of IT-mortgage in July. The program was extended until 2030, but the marginal rate was raised from 5 to 6% (its level can be reduced by bank and regional benefits). In addition, IT-mortgage can no longer buy housing in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Accredited IT-company, where the specialist works, must also be located in the region. Also, the maximum loan amount now cannot exceed 9 million rubles.
After the exclusion of Moscow and St. Petersburg from the program, the volume of loans for IT-mortgage in the banking market has fallen dramatically - from 30 billion rubles in July to 1.8 billion in August, said the manager for the analysis of banking and financial markets PSB Dmitry Gritskevich.
At the same time, the program was restarted only in August, the press service of the Ministry of Finance specified to Izvestia. They added: under the new conditions, employees of companies that receive tax benefits can take out an IT-mortgage. In order for banks to make sure of this, organizations must pass the consent to disclose tax secrets. The number of IT-companies that have provided this information is increasing daily, and the number of people who can potentially take out a mortgage is growing. At the same time, it is premature to summarize the interim results of the program. It is necessary to wait for the approval of all applications, the ministry said.
Earlier, more than half of the distributed IT-mortgage funds were used to buy housing in Moscow and St. Petersburg - these regions accounted for 50% of mortgages issued, emphasized the Ministry of Finance. After changes in the rules of issuance on August 1, the focus of the program was redirected to support and retention of personnel in the regions. At the same time, IT-specialists who live in the regions and work in branches of IT-companies in Moscow and St. Petersburg, can apply for a preferential mortgage, the department added.
However, the benefit still ceased to take into account those employees who work remotely for the capital organizations, but live in other cities, said Dmitry Gritskevich. At the same time the largest IT-companies are just in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The discussed fine-tuning of the program would be a fair measure, he believes.
Specialists who live in the regions, but work for Moscow companies, should be allowed to take a preferential mortgage, agrees the head of macroeconomic analysis Sovcombank Nikita Kulagin. According to him, it will help support construction in the regions. In capitals the housing market is overheated much more. At the same time, such a change in the parameters of the program will motivate citizens not to move to Moscow and St. Petersburg.
About every third IT-specialist works remotely, said Evgeny Shavnev, General Director of the investment company in the real estate market Flip LLC. At the same time, further development of IT-mortgage in the regions will not lead to overheating of the housing market there, he is sure. Given the shortage of personnel in this segment, and therefore, and potential borrowers, even in the case of expansion of the program, its share will not exceed 10% of all issuances.
On the other hand, this innovation will take away the advantage from regional IT-companies, which should be encouraged, says Vitaly Kostyukevich, Director of Retail Products Department of Absolut Bank. At the same time, there are many restrictions now, and not all specialists fit the parameters of the program, said Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global. For example, the minimum level of the average income of the borrower in cities with a million people should be at least 150 thousand rubles (before tax), and in other cities - at least 90 thousand rubles.
"Izvestia" sent a request to the Central Bank.
What preferential mortgage can now be issued
In addition to IT, other state programs for the purchase of housing are now available. Until 2030 there is a family mortgage - it allows you to take a loan at 6%. In July, the Ministry of Finance tightened the conditions - now a preferential loan can only families with at least one child up to six years inclusive, with a disabled child or two minor children, but from small towns of up to 50 thousand people or from 35 regions with a low level of construction.
Now there is also a rural mortgage at 3% - under it Russians can get a housing loan in a small settlement (no more than 30 thousand people). Until 2030 works Far Eastern and Arctic program at 2% - it can be issued to citizens up to 35 years old.
However, the most popular preferential mortgage - for new buildings at 8% - ended in July.
Because of the sharply increased and poorly controlled demand against the background of massive government programs there was an overheating of the mortgage market, and housing prices increased, recalled the managing director of the rating agency "Expert RA" Yuri Belikov. After the abolition of these benefits came the stage of sharp cooling and "recovery" has not yet come, the expert believes.
According to him, in the long term, the situation should be restored through market mortgage, but for this to normalize rates. Now they exceed 20% on housing loans.
The share of preferential mortgages in the total volume of issuance remains very significant. In the first half of the year, it exceeded 70%, and at the end of July amounted to about half, said Egor Lopatin, director of the group of ratings of financial institutions of the NKR Agency. At the same time, according to him, it can still grow, including due to the increase in the key rate in September from 18 to 19%.
Preferential programs, of course, carry some risks for the real estate market - there is a skew of prices towards the primary segment, said Natalia Milchakova. However, IT-mortgage and other preferential loans for certain social groups do not create a significant danger, because the penetration of such loans is very low and they are used by only a small percentage of Russians, the expert emphasized. Therefore, in her opinion, the program for IT-specialists should be preserved for as long as possible.
Real estate prices in the primary market will still begin to decline, the expert believes. According to her, they may fall by 15-20% by the end of the year.
