Eight Banks Get Approval for N10 Billion Mortgage Refinancing Loan

History of some sort will be made this month, following plans by the Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company (NMRC) to provide its first tranche of refinancing for existing mortgage loans in the market, totaling about N10 billion, which will deepen affordable housing processes, especially for first time buyers.

The new deal is coming as part of the bargain by NMRC to provide mortgage lending institutions with access to long-term finance at an affordable interest rate, and enabling mortgages to be issued by these institutions to Nigerians over a longer tenor. About 20 institutions including commercial and mortgage banks are members of the mortgage lending banks.

Observers believe that the new initiative would also set the stage to develop both the primary and secondary mortgage markets by raising long-term funds from the domestic capital markets and foreign markets to provide accessible as well as affordable housing in Nigeria.

Specifically, the refinancing will involve close to 600 loans for eligible participants of the affordable housing scheme of the Federal Government already in the market warehoused by eight mortgage lending banks.

“This is to fulfill our mandate to bring liquidity into the market. Activity is starting this month with the first refinancing of existing mortgages in the market, called the legacy loans,” according to the Chief Executive Officer of NMRC, Prof. Charles Inyangete.

Inyangete who confirmed the development at a workshop last week in Lagos, organised by the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company on Public Awareness and Capacity Building, said the refinancing is not automatic for lending banks, but would simultaneously be injecting the much desired liquidity into the Nigeria mortgage system.

“They need to meet regulatory standards for them to be part of the NMRC market by investing minimum threshold into NMRC.

The successful delivery by the NMRC on its mandate will unlock quantum opportunities in deepening and expanding Nigeria’s Mortgage Industry, the capital market, and pivoting Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to new heights.

“In the first year, we have brought in uniform underwriting standards into the market. So, for the first time in Nigeria, we have standards that really determine how loans are originated, and evaluated.

Guardian