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Walls help: Russians have become more likely to take out loans secured by real estate
Russians have increasingly begun to accept loans secured by real estate, analysts told Izvestia. This helps them take out large amounts to repay debt, refinance, purchase and repair a home or car. The banks reported that the number of such non-targeted loans turned out to be a third more in March 2025 than a month earlier. The trend is related to the fact that financial institutions are massively refusing unsecured loans due to the high interest rate and restrictions of the Central Bank. However, such loans carry a number of risks, experts say. In particular, if a loan is not paid, a person may lose their only home. About why non—targeted loans began to be actively issued in Russia and what they threaten is in the Izvestia article.
Why take out loans secured by
The volume of loans secured by real estate in ruble terms in Russian banks increased by more than 45% in 2024, analysts told Izvestia. This year, the trend continued to gain momentum. In March alone, about 2 billion rubles of such non-targeted loans were issued, the press service of Sberbank said.
"This is 34% more than a month earlier, in February of this year," they said. — The average size of such a loan was 1.7 million rubles. You can get a large sum of money secured by real estate on more favorable terms than without collateral. An apartment, a residential building, apartments, a plot of land and a garage are suitable for collateral.
Currently, mortgage rates are at the level of 27-29% per annum, and consumer loans exceed 30%. Against this background, the opportunity to get a loan at a rate 2-3% lower is important for borrowers, said Nikita Arzamassev, Product Director of the TYMY IT company.
"Most of the banks that are currently working with such loans might not even have allocated them to a separate area for analytics earlier, since their share is minimal — no more than 1-2% of the portfolio of all loan products," he said. — Since 2024, the situation has changed, secured loans have become the focus of both borrowers and banks, after the Central Bank's key rate exceeded 20%, and macroprudential surcharges were increased for borrowers with high debt burden.
In recent months, banks have significantly tightened their lending. As Izvestia reported in February, financial institutions began rejecting 95 out of 100 loan applications. First of all, this is due to high interest rates, which leads to a significant increase in loan servicing costs, which are becoming unbearable for an increasing number of Russian citizens, explained Igor Dodonov, analyst at Finam Financial Group. As a result, banks consider such loans too risky and refuse them.
— In addition, the high creditworthiness of Russians against the background of the difficult economic situation and the harsh restrictive measures of the Central Bank aimed at "cooling" retail lending are also negative factors. In such conditions, banks are imposing increasingly stringent requirements on borrowers, which leads to a high proportion of refusals to receive consumer loans," Igor Dodonov added.
At the same time, the availability of collateral significantly increases the likelihood that the bank will return its funds if the borrower suddenly stops servicing the loan, the expert explained. In addition, collateral loans are not subject to some regulatory measures (for example, macroprudential limits that limit the proportion of loans granted to highly creditworthy borrowers). Therefore, their registration is more beneficial for banks in terms of regulatory burden.
— That is, if a person does not approve of an ordinary consumer loan, he, nevertheless, often has the opportunity to take out a loan secured by some property, — Igor Dodonov emphasized.
The growth in the number of loans secured by real estate was confirmed to Izvestia by Rustam Azizov, Director of Mortgage Sales and Implementation of Financial Instruments at A101 Group of Companies.
Most often, according to the SaaS platform partners who have this type of lending, Russians provide an apartment to the bank as collateral. In 3-4% of cases, commercial premises become collateral, about 1-2% are apartments, 0.5–1% are parking spaces and other non—residential premises.
What are loans for?
About 30% of borrowers take out a loan secured by real estate in order to make repairs in the same facility. If housing is the only way not to stretch the process, many resort to lending even at high rates, analysts say.
About 25% take out a loan to pay off a debt or to close a loan with a higher interest rate in order to reduce their monthly financial burden or close overdue payments. One in five uses this method of lending to have money for the initial mortgage payment.
— For many buyers, a high initial payment of 30-40% becomes an obstacle in obtaining, for example, a preferential mortgage, — said Nikita Arzamassev. — By the way, real estate owned by third parties can be used as collateral for such loans, and not by the borrower himself — with their consent.
Among the popular goals were the purchase and repair of a car, as well as the start of a new or the development of an existing business.
Most often, Russians leave apartments as collateral, because banks are more willing to accept urban-type real estate, confirmed Marat Vorobyov, founder of Vorobev Realty Group.
Unsecured loans with a high key interest rate (up to 30%) and current macroprudential limits are a big risk for banks, added Valery Tumin, Director of Russian and CIS Markets at fam Properties.
"Without calculating their strength, Russians allow delays that accumulate like a snowball and turn into write—offs for banks during bankruptcy proceedings, the popularity of which is growing every year," the expert noted. — For example, the overdue debt of Russians, which is considered uncollectible, on credit cards alone increased by 27% in 2024, according to the Scoring Bureau. Mortgage arrears increased by 62.5% over the year to RUB 100 billion.
Most of the secured loans issued, in his opinion, are most likely not the first attempt to obtain a loan.
The growing interest in non-targeted loans secured by real estate indicates that Russians are increasingly using their homes as a financial asset, added Vadim Butin, head of mortgage lending at Glavstroy-Real Estate.
— The goal of borrowers is to receive a significant amount for a long time at a percentage below the consumer loan, — the expert reminded. — As a rule, these funds are used to refinance more expensive loans, close debt obligations, and spend heavily on car purchases, repairs, medical treatment, and education. Less often — as an investment in a business or in the purchase of a new home.
According to him, a loan secured by real estate allows you to get up to 60-70% of the market value of an object for up to 15-20 years.
What are the risks of mortgaging real estate
— Some borrowers overestimate their debt service capabilities or expect a quick revaluation of an asset, such as an apartment, which is not always justified, — said Vadim Butin. — This is fraught with loss of property in case of non-fulfillment of loan obligations.
Rustam Azizov recalled that the bank estimates the value of the collateral at a small discount.
According to Marat Vorobyov, even the only housing loses its "immunity" if the bank took it as collateral. In this case, the credit institution may even withdraw the only housing.
"Therefore, the main risk for people here is the loss of their only home," he said.
The bank will not give a lot of money for real estate secured, said Alexander Krivosheev, managing partner of +7 Group.
"The asset should be sold in case of bankruptcy," he said. — It's complicated. Especially if this is the only accommodation and it is inexpensive. Most likely, they will still require a guarantor.
If the person is not the sole owner of the facility, then other owners will probably be involved as loan guarantors, the expert added.
— The loan is stretched over time, and you will still overpay several times, — he added. — Our clients are real estate market players, and they went out to sell apartments. Ten years ago, she was secured by such a loan, but in foreign currency. As a result, since it was necessary to convert all the amounts at the repayment stage, the bank lost a commission of several hundred rubles. But this was the reason that the apartment was still with an undelivered encumbrance.
The expert advised that after repayment of the loan, it is necessary to double-check whether the encumbrance on the property has been accurately removed.
Vadim Butin also added that in addition to the interest rate, the procedure for transferring real estate as collateral involves a number of other expenses. In particular, for commissions, insurance, property valuation, notary and registration fees. These expenses can significantly increase the total amount of payments.
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