ZAGREB, 20 March 2022 - A new round of applications for subsidised housing loans starts on Monday when the relevant APN agency starts receiving the requests, while the government has set aside HRK 50 million (€6.7 million) for this purpose.

After the completion of a public call for banks to submit their offers, on 4 March, APN concluded contracts with 14 credit institutions on subsidised housing loans.

The lowest effective rate of 1.99% for both the kuna- and the euro-pegged loans was given by two banks: Erste&Steiermarkische banka and Karlovačka Banka for the latest round.

According to the data provided by the ministry, 22,169 requests for subsidised housing loans were granted between 2017, when the scheme was introduced, and March 2021.

In the families that use housing loan subsidies, roughly 5,000 children have been born since 2017 and 13,130 children under 18 have been reported in the loan requests.

More than HRK 456.7 million has been invested in state-subsidised housing loans so far.

The eligibility criteria for applicants is that they are under 45, and are first-home buyers.

Calculating the amount of subsidy depends on the location of the property covered by the scheme.

Applicants in locations in the underdeveloped and rural areas qualify for higher subsidisation.

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ZAGREB, 11 Nov, 2021 - The average monthly housing loan installment for people who took out the loan between November 2020 and June 2021 ranges from 41 to 44% of their monthly income, according to a Croatian National Bank survey, Večernji List daily said on Thursday.

Housing loans total HRK 67 billion, up by over 10% year on year.

The high demand for real estate is accompanied by a constant rise in prices, which are up by six to seven percent. At this rate, the price of a square metre of a flat could double in ten years' time.

"Croatia is a country with too many motives for the high demand for properties, from the tax treatment, tourism and low interest rates to the moving of the capital of the extra rich from banks, the APN (Croatian Real Estate Agency), the fact that some indeed need a place to live, that some buy properties in companies' names to pay less taxes, and the presence of foreigners," Maruška Vizek of the Zagreb Institute of Economics told the daily.

"The market can't offer enough properties for so many motives for there to be a drop in prices. The only solution is an adequate tax treatment, which won't happen," she added.

The central bank is worried about potential risks and that the crisis might spill over to the banking sector. Governor Boris Vujčić said recently the prices of housing properties were increasing more than incomes but not construction costs. All of that increases the risks of their corrections in future.

Most of the new housing loans (28% of the principal) are paid out with debt-to-income ratios of 30 to 40%. For another 26% of debtors, the ratio is 40 to 50%. For as much as 23% of the new housing loans, the monthly payment is more than half the debtor's income, Večernji List said.

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ZAGREB, 1 Oct 2021 - Total household loans in Croatia in August accelerated their growth on the year from 4.3% to 4.6%, with housing loans continuing to increase from 10.6% to 10.8%, according to data provided by the Croatian National Bank (HNB) on Friday.

Total lending by monetary institutions to domestic sectors (apart from the central government) in August fell by HRK 500 million or 0.2% compared to July and at the end of August they amounted to HRK 241.1 billion, the HNB reported.

The annual growth rate of total placements remained at 4.1%, the same as in July.

Total loans, which account for the majority of total placements, fell by HRK 400 million or 0.2% on the month, with loans to the business sector contracting by HRK 700 million or 0.8% and loans to other financial institutions falling by HRK 100 million or 0.6%.

On the other hand, household loans increased by HRK 300 million or 0.2%.

Year-on-year, housing loan growth accelerated from 10.6% to 10.8%, and the growth of cash loans increased from 0.6% to 0.8%, leading to accelerated growth in household loans from 4.3% to 4.6%.

Total household deposits up by HRK 37 billion on the year

Total deposits amounted to HRK 359 billion, HRK 8.6 billion or 2.5% up from July, whereas on the year they increased by HRK 37 billion or 11.5%.

Household deposits amounted to HRK 238.3 billion, up HRK 3.3 billion or 1.1% on the month and by HRK 19 billion or 8.6% on the year, the HNB reported.

(€1 = HRK 7.491380)

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ZAGREB, 31 Aug, 2021 - Household deposits rose by 1.4% that is by 3.3 billion from June to July, and increased 8.4% on the year, according to the data released by the Croatian National Bank in its "Comments on monetary developments for July 2021" publication.

Total deposits in Croatia reached HRK 350.7 billion in July, going up by 8.5 billion kuna or 2.5% from June, and jumped by 31.1 billion kuna or 9.7% comapred to July 2020.

"The growth in total placements of monetary institutions to domestic sectors continued to accelerate in July, mirroring growing household lending, primarily in the form of housing loans that rose fuelled by the government subsidy programme. The placements to other financial institutions also rose, while placements to corporates fell," the HNB says in its comment.

"Total placements of monetary institution to domestic sectors (except the central government) rose in July by HRK 1.5bn or 0.6% (transaction-based) from June and stood at HRK 242.2bn at the end of the month. The annual growth rate of total placements accelerated from 3.8% in June to 4.1% in July. The monthly increase in placements was almost entirely due to the growth in loans which stood at HRK 236.5bn at the end of July," says the central bank.

Broken down by sectors, household loans rose the most (HRK 1.3bn or 1.0%) driven by the government subsidy programme, which continued to propel a strong growth in housing loans (HRK 1.1bn or 1.7%), while general-purpose cash loans continued to rise moderately (HRK 0.2bn or 0.4%).

On an annual level, the growth in housing loans continued to accelerate, having risen from 10.1% to 10.6% and so did the growth in general-purpose cash loans, which rose from 0.2% to 0.6%, resulting in an acceleration in the growth of total loans to households from 4.0% to 4.3%, the central bank reports.

(€1 = HRK 7.483066)

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