HSA Home Loan Provision Eased

EghtesadOnline: Prospective home-buyers can now take out loans under Housing Saving Account mortgage loan on homes up to 25 years old, says Mahmoud Shayan, the managing director of Bank Maskan, the state agent bank of housing sector.

News ID: ۷۸۵۸۹۴

02 February 2021

Formerly, Bank Maskan’s HSA loans were only extended to homes of 20 years or less.

“The new measure will improve the buying power of loan applicants, thanks to the higher number of homes not older than 25 and their relatively cheaper prices compared with new homes,” he was quoted as saying by Hibna.

According to Mohammad Hassan Moradi, a senior official with Bank Maskan, the date on which construction permit of a property was issued—and not the date the construction project was completed—serves as the criterion by which the loans will be granted.

Bank Maskan paid 1.47 million count of loans worth 257,800 billion rials ($1.12 billion) to applicants during nine months to Dec. 20, 2020, to register a 43% growth in value compared with the same period of the year before.

According to Shayan, construction loans accounted for the lion’s share of financial facilities during the period and a total of 44,250 billion rials ($180 million) worth of loans were paid for building 44,297 residential units across the country, registering a year-on-year 46.7% increase.

“One hundred thousand repair loans worth 32,800 billion rials [$133 million] were paid during the period. In addition, 78,722 households managed to purchase homes using Bank Maskan home loans either in the form of bonds or Housing Saving Account mortgage loans; the total value of home loans offered during the nine-month period increased 50.5% YOY,” he said.

The HSA scheme requires applicants to make an initial deposit of 400 million rials ($1,620) and wait out the one-year maturity period for credits with a ceiling of 800 million rials ($3,240), plus the depositor’s down payment, in the capital Tehran.

In towns with a population of over 200,000, the cap on loans is at 600 million rials ($2,430). Buyers in towns with a population of less than 200,000 can apply for a maximum 400 million rials.