The performance of lending to housing and apartments increased in early 2021, from previously slowing down at the end of last year. Bank Indonesia in its January 2021 money supply report noted that housing loans reached Rp521.2 trillion in January 2021, or grew 3.6% yoy. This growth rate increased from December 2020 growth of 3.4% yoy.
The increase was mainly driven by an increase in mortgage loans of types 22 to 70 in Banten and West Java. The increase in mortgage loans is in line with the trend of credit improvement at the beginning of this year.
CIMB Niaga Consumer Banking Director Lani Darmawan said lending in the mortgage segment grew steadily at the beginning of this year. He said mortgages grew 6% yoy in January 2021. The growth rate was not much different from December 2020 growth of 5.9%. In total, the number of loans disbursed last year was IDR 174.8 trillion or grew by 1.7% yoy, supported by the consumer banking business.
According to him, the stable growth at the beginning of the year was due to good cooperation between the company and developers, property agents, as well as a strong cross selling strategy. In addition, the trend of declining deposit interest rates makes investment in the property sector quite attractive.
Economist Ryan Kiryanto said the increasing mortgage growth at the beginning of the year was good news. He said people withheld buying houses for the past nine months because of concerns about Covid-19. However, the vaccination process carried out by the government since the beginning of the year has provided optimism for economic recovery. In addition, banks have lowered lending rates in the mortgage segment.