HARARE – Local banks increased their mortgage lending by 29% to $84 million in 2013 compared to the previous year, but housing demand remains high, figures released on Monday show.
In 2012, banks issued mortgages worth $64,9 million.
Figures provided by the Zimbabwe Association of Housing Finance (ZAHF) show that the number of mortgage applications last year also rose to 1,558 from 1,462 in the prior year against a housing backlog of more than 1,5 million, a third of which is in Harare.
ZAHF is made up of four institutions – the Central African Building Society (Cabs), CBZ Bank, FBC Bank and ZB Building Society.
Cabs recently increased the tenure for mortgages to 20 years while the other institutions have maintained them at 10 years.
The loans are at interest rates ranging between 10 and 20% per annum.
–The Source
