Difficult access to capital, high interest rates
At the end of the year, interest rates at banks all decreased sharply, with the lowest interest rate at one bank being only 1.9% for a 1-month term.
However, according to businesses, lending to both individual and corporate customers is not easy and interest rates are very high.
Sharing with PV. VietNamNet, Mr. Pham Duc Toan, General Director of Real Estate Investment and Development Joint Stock Company (EZ Property), said that businesses themselves need to borrow capital; however, accessing capital has been quite stressful recently, completely different from the policy of encouraging real estate lending.
Mr. Toan said that the mobilization interest rate has decreased very low but the real estate loan interest rate is not low.
“Currently, all joint stock commercial banks offer loan interest rates of over 10%/year; the lowest is Vietcombank, which is only about 7%. However, this bank has very strict requirements such as the enterprise must have an average revenue of more than 100 billion VND in the most recent year. If the revenue is low or there is a loss, the loan will not be granted,” said the General Director of EZ Property.
Along with that, businesses borrowing capital to do real estate projects must submit separate policies; that is, the headquarters must approve the loan policy, and the branches and departments below must appraise the documents.
“It is worth mentioning that the State Bank prohibits lending with the condition that insurance must be purchased, but some banks say outright that it is required, even compulsory. If insurance is not purchased, interest will be added, but if life insurance is purchased, the interest rate will be reduced by 1%.
Some banks even 'hang' a condition that they cannot buy insurance for the loan subject, meaning that the borrower must buy insurance for someone else to avoid inspection," Mr. Toan informed.
As for the buyers, the business leader cited that at a housing project in Do Son (Hai Phong), the investor sponsored interest for customers for 18 months. However, recently, when the term expired, a bank invited customers to extend the loan contract at 13.5%/year.
Not only are the loan interest rates high, he said, some banks also have a clause that if customers pay off their loans early, they will be penalized 1-1.5%.
Lending rates need to be reduced further
Sharing with VietNamNet , Mr. Vu Cuong Quyet, General Director of Dat Xanh Mien Bac, expressed that real estate businesses find it very difficult to borrow capital because of high interest rates, from 10-12%/year.
Meanwhile, to develop a real estate project will take at least 3-4 years, even up to 8 years for some projects, causing high financial costs. This makes it even more difficult for businesses to reduce selling prices.
As for home buyers, the loan interest rate remains at 8-10%. Compared to the beginning of the year, Mr. Quyet said that the loan interest rate for home buyers has recently decreased a bit, but the high house prices, beyond the reach of buyers, will cause difficulties.
“Homebuyers always compare renting and buying a house. If the interest rate on a home loan is high, they will rent instead of buying. Therefore, to stimulate real estate demand, a loan interest rate of 6.5-8%/year will be suitable for homebuyers. A loan interest rate of 9-10%/year is too much for people,” said Mr. Quyet.
Furthermore, after the preferential interest rate period, buyers often have to pay a fairly high floating interest rate. According to Mr. Quyet, the floating interest rate should only be around 10%/year, up to 11-12%/year, buyers cannot afford it.
As for businesses doing real estate projects, he suggested that loan interest rates should be at 7-9%/year; if the interest rate is above 10%, it will be very difficult.
Meanwhile, the General Director of EZ Property said that the real estate loan interest rate of about 7-8%/year is suitable for both businesses and home buyers to access. However, procedures need to be "loosened" more to make it easier for businesses to access capital.
From an expert perspective, Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu, an economic and financial expert, said that to stimulate market demand, a loan interest rate of 7% for people buying real estate is appropriate. However, it must be a fixed interest rate for 10 years, with a loan term of 20 years.
However, in reality, the expert commented that it is difficult to find this interest rate. Moreover, banks in Vietnam do not have fixed interest rates, which change from time to time, making it difficult for borrowers.
Source
Comment (0)