Central bank advocates caution in lending against real estate
Central bank advocates caution in lending against real estate
The State Bank of Vietnam has instructed banks to be cautious about lending against securities and to the property sector in areas where speculation has driven up prices.
Sign saying ‘Land for sale’ in Hon Quan District in the southern province of Binh Phuoc in February 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Phuoc Tuan.
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They need to ensure that collateral reflects true value, especially in places where land prices have skyrocketed.
Prices have risen by an average of 10 percent in the last two months, though in some places they have even doubled or tripled, according to the Vietnam Association of Realtors.
The central bank also called for curbing lending for stock market investment to mitigate risks.
Loans outstanding to both the real estate and stock markets have been increasing.
Loans for buying property grew by 2.13 percent during the quarter ending March 31 as against the overall 2.04 percent, according to the Director General of the SBV’s Monetary Policy Department, Pham Thanh Ha.
They account for over 19 percent of total outstanding loans, vice chairman of HDBank, Nguyen Thanh Do, said.
Margin loans rose by 0.7 percent during the quarter, according to the SBV.
The central bank noted that non-performing loans at consumer finance companies have increased.
It said for instance they were up 1 percentage point last year to 6.6 percent at FE Credit, Vietnam's largest consumer finance company.
For HD Saison, they rose 0.4 percentage points to 5.8 percent, it said.
It called on consumer lending companies to thoroughly check all documents and generally tighten lending conditions.
