Mortgages up marginally
Published:Friday | February 10, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Mortgage providers did marginally higher business last year, according to the National Land Agency (NLA), which registers all new transactions.
New mortgages registered were 2.5 per cent higher at 12,138, compared to the 11,834 registered in 2010.
Last year, it was expected that a number of mortgagors would have switched to new loan sources with lower interest rates, as the Government reduced the stamp duty charge on refinancing transactions to a nominal $100, as opposed to the original three per cent charge.
The NLA was unable to say what proportion of last year's transactions might have been refinanced properties.
Mortgage rates fell last year as lenders repriced loans.
Market leader Jamaica National Building Society is now offering rates of 11.49 per cent to a low of 9.8 per cent, the latter being for applicants who have at least 10 per cent of combined gross salary in a JNBS savings account.
GSB Credit Union, in September 2011 also cut its rates for a second time to 9.58 per cent for loans of J$2.5 million to J$15 million repayable over 35 years.
Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS) reduced its rates on June 1 to 10.4 per cent for savers, and 11.99 per cent for non-savers.
Scotia Jamaica Building Society, which has 9-10 per cent of the mortgage-loan market, cut its lending rate on May 1 for new homeowners, from 14 per cent to 10.75 per cent fixed for 36 months, but only to a select group of professionals and university students.
In the last listing of assets by the central bank for building societies, dated September 2011, the data shows a three per cent improvement in mortgage loans year over year.
Total mortgages for the sector up to September 2011 was valued at J$83.35 billion for residential properties and $1.39 billion for commercial properties.
This compares to the year prior's J$80.998 billion of residential mortgage loans and J$1.68 billion of commercial loans.
JNBS led the sector with J$39.16 billion in residential loans, an improvement of three per cent over $37.95 billion generated for the same time period in 2010.
VMBS had J$26.33 billion in loans, a 5.7 per cent reduction; Scotia Jamaica Building Society recorded a 23 per cent increase in its portfolio J$9.7 billion; and FirstCaribbean International Building Society grew its loans by five per cent to J$8.11 billion.