Mortgage at 0.1% per annum turned out to be a big catch: buyers go bankrupt

With the advent of mortgages with low rates offset by higher apartment prices, it has become psychologically difficult for many clients to carefully calculate everything. You have to rely on those calculations that are made for the client – the developer, bank or consultant. That is how, in fact, “eyes closed”, Nikolai Ignatiev, a PR specialist who received a humanitarian education at UrFU, bought an apartment in New Moscow at a rate of 0.01%.

“I needed an apartment, I understood that a mortgage is in any case more than ten years, and it’s impossible to guess for such a period,” says Nikolai. – So, only the down payment, the interest rate and the monthly payment matters. I found conditions where not only the down payment is only 10%, but also in the first two years the payments are symbolic – less than 50 thousand rubles a month. And I didn’t think for a long time: I bought a “odnushka” with a nominal price of 9 million rubles, with a rise in price it turned out to be almost 11 million.

– If the apartment chosen by the client is not included in the list of subsidized ones, he is almost always offered an increase in the initial cost of the apartment, – Alexander Gutorov, commercial director of the Strana Development group of companies, confirms.

This increase can be in some cases both 30% and 50%. And to calculate the final amount of payments is quite difficult even for a person with an economic education. There is no need to talk about benefits with the current inflated housing prices.

So, our other heroine, a resident of St. Petersburg, Elena Polikarpova, said that she was offered an actually interest-free loan (0.01%), but with the condition that the cost of the new building be increased by as much as one and a half times – from 8 to 12 million rubles. The woman and her husband already had their own housing in the old fund, but no one took it for more than 6 million. The spouses really did not want to get involved in a loan for 6 million.

– When we came to the bank, they explained to us that the state co-finances mortgages only in the primary market, an additional rate reduction can be provided by the developer – a company with billions in turnover – from its own funds, which, although not for these purposes, but still have, – says Elena.

– You need to understand how the rate is formed in the secondary market, – comments Irina Dobrokhotova, managing partner of Dombook, chairman of the board of directors of BEST-Novostroy. – There is no state support, the bank can issue a loan at a rate not lower than the key rate of the Central Bank, at its own expense it can drop 1 percentage point in order to increase the volume of issuance. The owner of secondary housing, even if he is a multimillionaire, will not be able to compensate the bank for lost interest from his own funds, so that he would issue a mortgage to the buyer at a reduced rate. As a result, the “secondary” does not have any means to make the mortgage more affordable.

The Polikarpovs decided to stay in the old housing – unlike Nikolai, who rents an apartment in the capital, whose payments after the expiration of the first two years should have increased to approximately 55-57 thousand rubles a month, the total mortgage is designed for 20 years. “If I had a stable financial situation, the payment of 70-80 thousand would not become a problem. Well, in the case of cataclysms, it’s like nothing is clear at all, you don’t need to bet on it – that’s what I thought at that moment, ”the MK interlocutor admits.

– Over the year, the average price per square meter in the Moscow housing market increased by 17.2%, in the apartment market – by 13.3%. This is certainly a lot, but 2-2.5 times less than in 2021, when consumer demand grew against the backdrop of lower rates, says Valeria Tsvetkova, Managing Director of BON TON. – After the price increase in 2021, there was an overheating when demand could no longer keep up with the price increase. So it turns out that developers subsidize mortgage rates by raising prices to maintain demand.

Prior to buying a home, PR manager Nikolai did not calculate what is more profitable – renting or taking an apartment on a mortgage – simply because it is completely impossible to calculate the option of renting at least a few years in advance. “Plus, I’m still a person from the Urals, we somehow don’t like to take pictures all our lives, and I think, by the way, it’s right that you should have your own housing, otherwise what are you worth in life?” – the interlocutor is frank.

Nikolay’s “correctness” ruined him. It would seem that a low mortgage rate is offered not to anyone, because the bank must be sure of the client’s solvency. But, according to Nikolai, the developer and the bank (he works under a joint program with the developer) did not impose special requirements on the borrower: it was enough to have permanent employment in Moscow. Consideration of the application lasted three days. According to the sales manager, the chances of approval were one hundred percent.

Nikolai’s application was indeed approved, and he became the owner of a housing that does not yet exist, which, according to plans, should be completed in two years. However, soon Nikolai realized that he got involved in a bad story. He was fired from his main job due to redundancy, earnings on the side were only enough for food, but now he had to pay not only for rent, but also for a mortgage.

“For a developer, a 1% decrease in a mortgage loan costs about 3% of the price of an apartment if the mortgage is subsidized for a long period, from 15 years,” comments Maxim Tutukov, head of the analytics unit at ProGorod LLC. – And, of course, it is better to buy an apartment in the region where you plan to live, study and work.

Nikolai Ignatiev swung, however, at the capital.

– Got hit. As they say, it’s only easy to buy, – a recent student of the Ural University complains. – It is impossible to sell an apartment for the initial cost. The realtor with whom I am in contact claims that I will have to lose at least two million rubles – and even then, they say, I will have to look for a buyer for more than one month. Or, he has such an offer, minus three “lyamas” – such housing will be bought quickly. I suspect that the realtor himself will buy. No, in principle I will not sell, now I am actively looking for work.

In fact, the purchase of housing at current prices drives one into bondage not only with a mortgage loan at a symbolic 0.01%, but even simply in installments (interest-free) for 20-30 years. Sometimes one gets the feeling that people are being bullied, like aquarium fish, which at any moment can be devoured by a cat. Not necessarily greasy.