By Olumide T. Agunbiade |Nigerian Real Estate Writer and Blogger
Follow @olumideblogzin
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F Nigerians were not buying homes when rates
were 18%, what happens now that rates have been increased to over 20%?
Back In October 2011, the Monetary Policy
Committee (MPC) in an emergency session to bail the depreciating currency, stabilize
the naira and peg the inflation pressure; announced the following rate changes:
Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) was increased by 275 basis points from 9.25% to 12%.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also maintained the current symmetric
corridor of +/-200 basis points around the MPR. Also, the Cash Reserve Ratio
(CRR) was increased from 4 to 8%.
Before seeking and sampling the opinions of
experts on these astronomical hikes, several questions besieged my thoughts:
Should the quest to save the naira be a singular reason to hike? Did the MPC
consider the impact on the real estate sector?
Was the
timing right, considering the fuel subsidy removal already generating heated
debate? Does saving the depreciating naira and foreign reserve have a huge
economic impact as to adjusting rates and fiscal measures to impact on
agriculture and housing market?
Increasing
rates do not make it any easier for homeowners to sell and for existing
mortgage borrowers to maintain their loan facility. But, how much will it hurt?
Economists say, mortgage loans are the quickest loan basket to get re-priced
upwards in such market conditions.
Today, Michael Brown, 35, web designer, is
drawing his retirement plans. Recently, he inspected and planned to acquire a
property on mortgage; near Eleko beach road, Lekki Peninsula, close to the new
Airport, new Seaport and the Free Trade Zone.
Before
the hike, he was at an advanced stage of securing N15million loan to purchase
his dream home at an interest rate of 18%. Now at 22%, he needs an additional
N600, 000 in order to qualify for a loan on the N15million home he plans to
purchase. How many first-time home buyers have access to that kind of money?
In Nigeria, there is no mechanism for
risk sharing that will encourage banks and other financial institutions to
extend loans to people at the lower income level. Yet, if loans are less
expensive and easier to qualify, then the property becomes more liquid.
Also,
the absence of Credit Information Database [CID] that financial institutions
provide information to and can get the history of all information from-as
available in developed nations-ensured, Nigerian financial institutions settle
for lending to the rich.
Primary Financial Institutions [PMIs]
typically at the moment, offer equity loan rates of around 20%. In addition,
the borrower will pay 2% management fee
charged quarterly, 20-30% home equity contribution, legal fee charged by the
real estate attorney recommended by the bank and all title registration fees
required by the State government.
It is alarming to note that a mortgage of 20%
accessed on a N80m home, will require
borrowers to pay the full amount
of the property in interest alone in 4years, and the property still far from
becoming their own.
Besides, a country that currently operates on
the culture of ‘cash and carry’ in all her activities can only be dreaming of
housing. ‘‘Until the nation sits up and rolls out a virile, sustainable,
non-elitist mortgage system, the housing situation in Nigeria will remain
comatose.’ says Mr. Bode Adediji,
President, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) in an
interview published in ‘The Vanguard’.
The engine that drives the economy of most
advanced countries is mortgage and housing. The current loan exposure of
Primary Financial Institutions (PMIs) in Nigeria is about 1% and the total
contribution of housing, property and construction to the GDP about 3%.
According to the Managing Director, Federal
Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Gimba Y’au Kumo, the inability of the CBN to
pay its equity contribution into the National Housing Fund is responsible for
the apex mortgage bank’s inability to either provide the housing needs of
Nigerians or mortgage for people to build their own homes.
Is there a way out? Yes. If the government
will provide guarantees in form of
mortgage insurance to lenders for loans
granted to first time buyers with no credit history and low to middle income
earners once such mortgage loans meet
prescribed underwriting standards. In the event of default, the
government indemnifies the lenders to a prescribed level.
The current situation in Nigeria is similar to
what was prevalent in United States of America until the Roosevelt
Administration (1933-1945) established the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
to provide insurance against mortgage defaults.
Before the recession, the U.S housing finance
system is used as the model for most emerging mortgage markets. Hence,
government should start thinking of re-organizing the Nigerian Federal Housing
Authority (FDA) into a government sponsored mortgage insurance institution that
will provide this service.
Also, such insurance will guarantee mortgage
lenders some level of comfort and will encourage them to extend the loans for
longer periods to low and middle income earners. In providing liquidity, such
insured mortgages may be securitized, that is, pooled by the Federal Mortgage
Bank of Nigeria [FMBN] and sold in the domestic Capital Market to interested
investors.
In addition, the Capital Market can be a good
source of providing long-term funds through the issuances of bonds and other
financial instruments to finance infrastructural projects, compared to the
current method of funding through annual budgets which results in having
several uncompleted projects when revenues fall short of expectation, as has
been the experience in the nation’s history.
Indeed, the hike will certainly affect the
availability of capital, the demand for properties and the accessibility of
loans. Though some analyst believes the hike will not affect the market.
Finally, in order to find and adopt a
realistic exchange rate for the naira, the CBN should as a matter of deliberate
policy continue on a gradual systematic devaluation of the naira and pay its equity
contribution into the National Housing Fund to enable FMBN to either provide
the housing needs of Nigerians or mortgage for people to build their own homes.
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