SCB seeks to promote more condo mortgages

She said the rate of non-performing loans (NPLs) from condominium buyers was less than 1 per cent, compared with 2 per cent for townhouses or detached homes. 

In the first half of this year, SCB increased its condominium mortgages to 15 per cent of the total portfolio of Bt400 billion, up from 12 per cent as of the end of last year. It wants to increase the proportion to 20 per cent, Pikul said.

She said reaching that target would be a challenge because condo buyers prefer paying cash. SCB will join forces with developers to offer attractive campaigns to entice such buyers to opt for instalment plans. 

Pikul said that despite the rising levels of household debt in Thailand, SCB’s rejection rate was unchanged from 18 per cent. On average, its mortgage customers have monthly incomes of Bt30,000 and the home price is Bt2 million.

SCB, this year, anticipates new housing loans of Bt110 billion; in the first six months, it saw Bt67 billion worth of new mortgages. Outstanding loans this year are expected to climb to Bt420 billion. 

Meanwhile, after testing the waters by way of a pilot project in cooperation with Pruksa Real Estate, Thanachart Bank aims to start offering mortgages to self-employed individuals who are unable to access housing loans from other sources.

Nathapol Luepromchai, senior vice president of TBank, said the self-employed were regarded as high-risk customers because they have no financial statements. Therefore, to avoid bad debts and help them access housing loans without requiring monthly income assessments, they will be required to show steady cash flows.

Already, half of TBank’s mortgage customers are self-employed, but the pilot project with Pruksa focused on vendors. This would be a new segment for TBank, but it will make sure they have sufficient income, he said. 

The bank has designed a new programme allowing self-employed people to buy homes costing up to Bt3 million. The customer has to keep a deposit account at the bank for at least 12 months, and the savings will be the down payment. If the customer wants to buy a home for Bt1 million, for example, he or she should deposit about Bt7,000-Bt8,000 per month. When the account has enough in it to cover the down payment, the bank will approve the mortgage, Nathapol said.

He said the interest rates for this segment might be 25 basis points higher than for general customers.

TBank projects Bt1 billion in new loans from the programme. He said the bank would expand the programme with other developers if it attracts high-quality borrowers with good credit.

In the first six months, TBank booked new housing loans of Bt7 billion.

The average credit line increased to between Bt2.5 million and Bt2.8 million from Bt2 million because of the rising price of homes.

For the second half, TBank projects new loans of Bt18 billion, bringing its outstanding loans this year to between Bt83 billion and Bt84 billion, for growth of 6-7 per cent.