They want to change the terms of family mortgages: what will it be

By June 15, the authorities are ready to announce new, expanded conditions for family mortgages. The program will affect families with children under 14 (previously, only preschool-age children participated in it) and families of SVO participants.

What is the purpose of the innovation? Will ordinary citizens benefit from it, and not just banks and developers?

— The proposed changes in the terms of family mortgages are based on an analysis of the situation. The issuance of loans with state support this year has fallen by 40% in terms of the number of loans and by 35% in monetary terms. Therefore, a decision has been made to increase the number of potential borrowers by significantly expanding the scope of the program, — says Kirill Kulakov, President of the Regional Association of Appraisers and Professor at the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering.

— Kirill, can you guess when exactly the updated program will start working?

— It is difficult to name the date of the innovation. But, since the program will be implemented through a government decree, and not through a law, we can expect its launch in September.

— It is believed that any concession for a certain group of citizens automatically leads to an increase in prices. In this case, should we expect an increase in the cost of apartments?

— High demand traditionally entails an increase in the cost of housing. But even in the extended version of the family mortgage, there are not as many potential borrowers as there were with the general preferential mortgage. It should be remembered that not all cities are undergoing housing construction — and, therefore, not everyone who wants to will be able to take advantage of this benefit. So, if there is an increase in the cost of housing, it will be within the framework of inflation. Further adjustments to the program are possible after it has been operating for several months under the new conditions.

Deputy Head of the Mortgage Department of the federal company Etazhi Tatyana Reshetnikova agrees with her colleague: expanding the preferential lending program is not a quick process.

— By June 15, only proposals for family mortgages are expected. After them, as a rule, there is consideration, adjustment, approval, and allocation of the necessary funds. Real changes may appear no earlier than autumn, but more likely — from the beginning of next year.

It was previously announced that the budget did not take into account additional costs for such expansion, so it is unlikely that any kind of mass story should be expected, says Tatyana Reshetnikova. It is quite possible that for families of SVO participants, the decision-making on program expansion will be accelerated and it may start working for this category of Russians earlier. But here it would be important to take into account, among other things, the possibility of refinancing previously issued loans. It is possible that the authorities will consider a targeted option for expanding the program - for example, to regions with low birth rates.

— Tatyana, will housing prices rise or, on the contrary, will they remain the same?

— Long-term working conditions of developers with limitation of mortgage lending only within the framework of preferential programs due to unaffordable conditions at standard rates have already changed the supply on the primary market: some apartments are sold in installments. Pricing for mortgage transactions has not decreased: after the end of mass preferential mortgages, prices increased by 13.69%. If we look at the indicators for May 2025 to June 2024, we get 14.93% year-on-year, which is significantly higher than inflation. But for non-mortgage transactions and transactions without installments, developers can provide discounts, but there are few such purchases for cash. Expanding the preferential program can somewhat satisfy demand and slightly increase developer sales, but at the same time it will postpone the normalization of rates for market products.

— It is believed that there should be a balance between standard and preferential lending programs on the mortgage market. Is this true?

- Certainly. I would also like to add that the gradual stagnation of demand in the secondary market is slowing down the improvement of housing conditions for Russians. If in 2021 the average market rate for primary housing was 7.87%, then the preferential rate of 6.05% on average provided certain savings, but was not so costly for the budget, and the market perfectly balanced between the secondary and primary segments. Now this is not the case.

— Should we expect even greater concessions for some groups of Russians?

— Uncertainty about the future of preferential mortgage programs always has a negative impact on the market, as it forces developers to be more careful in introducing new projects to the market and creates deferred demand among potential buyers. Many initiatives are proposed, and they are often voiced not as a proposal, but as a fait accompli. As a result, some developers are waiting for changes that will never be adopted, as the authorities will reject them at the consideration stage. However, the expectations of developers contribute to the fact that real estate continues to grow in price.

Published in the newspaper "Moskovsky Komsomolets" No. 29535 of June 4, 2025

Newspaper headline: Mortgage will be returned to the family