SBP developing secondary housing mortgage market

[Naveed Yaseen]

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) believes there is an immediate need for establishing a secondary housing mortgage market to meet the shortfall of housing units in the country.

It will also enable financial institutions dealing in mortgage loans to reduce the disparity in the maturity profile of their assets and liabilities, an SBP press release on Tuesday quoted SBP Deputy Governor Kamran Shehzad as saying at an international workshop.

The South Asia Regional Housing Workshop was organised by the World Bank Group in Jakarta, where Shehzad presented his paper.

He said that the total housing finance portfolio of banks and development finance institutions (DFIs) has grown substantially in recent years, but mortgage debt to GDP ratio at less than 1pc is a cause for concern.

State Bank is currently working on an initiative to develop a secondary housing mortgage market. According to conservative estimates, there is already a backlog of more than six million housing units, which is growing approximately by about 300,000 units every year, he said. “This backlog, together with inadequate housing facilities, has been affecting the quality of life of the general public, especially the urban working class in Pakistan.”

The average national occupancy rate per dwelling in Pakistan is over 6, whereas per room density is 3.5 persons as compared to the international standard of 1.1 per room, he added.

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