The bank’s facilities are chiefly granted for home purchases and home construction in various forms, including bond facilities and savings funds, HIBNA reported.
More than 162,600 loans worth 70,620 billion rials ($590.96 million) in loans were paid by the bank in the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 21-July 22), registering a 5.4% rise year-on-year.
Bank Maskan’s Housing Savings Account constitutes 12% of the bank’s total resources, according to Financial Tribune.
HSA is the bank’s primary and most successful initiative created nearly four years ago, which requires applicants to make down payments and wait for a year to become eligible for the cheapest home loans in the country.
Target applicants mostly comprise first-time prospective homebuyers.
The scheme requires applicants to make an initial deposit and wait out the one-year maturity period for credits plus the depositor’s down payment.
When the scheme was first launched, the interest rate of the loans was set at 14%. In February 2017, after a directive by the Money and Credit Council, they were reduced to 9.5% in general cases and 8% for those who wanted to buy a home in rundown neighborhoods of the cities.
These interest rates make HSA loans the cheapest in the country.
HSA is said to be a self-sustaining fund, as all the resources it absorbs are redirected to boost the financial strength of Bank Maskan for it to be able to support prospective homebuyers through cheap facilities.