THE Home Development Mutual Fund, also known as the Pag-IBIG Fund, is bullish about a potential surge in housing loan applications following the exodus of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) from the country, which is seen to leave many condominiums vacant.
“Hopefully, more members and more inventories will come in, and more quality housing units will be available for consideration,” Acting Vice President of Members Services Operations Domingo Jacinto Jr. said in a media forum on Tuesday.
Select business districts, such as the Manila Bay Area, have been affected by the Pogo ban, resulting in the increase in condominium vacancies.
Colliers Philippines said the elevated vacancy rate in Metro Manila, currently at 17.4 percent in the third quarter of 2024, will remain at its height until 2025.
As a “stable” organization, Jacinto said the Pag-IBIG Fund is “capable” of lending, as reflected in its financial reports.
As of the end of September 2024, Pag-IBIG has released P88.17 billion in home loans, allowing access to 61,597 borrowers in financing to purchase or improve their homes.
The Pag-IBIG Housing Loan enables eligible borrowers to secure financing up to P6 million, payable up to 30 years and allows multiple loans, with interest rates starting at 3 percent for socialized and low-cost housing options.
“This stability is crucial, as more borrowers mean more opportunities to generate income, which will help maintain high dividends for our members. Hopefully, that gives a surge that pushes the needle when it comes to housing loan availments,” Jacinto said.
The Pag-IBIG official said they are looking into the housing industry’s landscape and evaluating the available inventories from its accredited real estate developers eligible for financing under its Housing Loan program.
They are also taking into account sellers willing to put up their properties for sale and those who want to purchase those through the said loan, according to Jacinto.
“So far, we’ve done well because our performance as of September is trending toward another P100 billion in housing loan takeouts. Our housing loan program benefits the majority of our members, maintaining the quality of their payments, and keeping the performing loans ratio stable,” Jacinto said.
“This ensures that the housing units are of high quality, members’ monthly amortization remains affordable and it is sustainable so more members can apply for housing loans,” he added.
This year, Pag-IBIG targets to release P143 billion in home loans and benefit about 115,000 members.
Other Pag-IBIG loans performance
Meanwhile, Pag-IBIG collected P49.27 billion from its mandatory Regular Savings program and P48.86 billion under its voluntary Modified Pag-IBIG II (MP2) savings as of the third quarter of 2024.
In 2023, the annual dividend rate of Pag-IBIG Regular Savings reached 6.55 percent while the MP2 recorded a 7.05 percent return rate.
In the January to September 2024 period, Pag-IBIG approved Multi-Purpose Loan applications of more than two million borrowers amounting to a total of P49.72 billion. This is a 16-percent increase in both the number of borrowers and the total loan amount compared to the same period last year.
In addition, almost 461,000 victims affected by various calamities this year were also assisted with the release of P5.92 billion in Calamity Loans.
Pag-IBIG Fund currently has more than 16.37 million active members, who collectively saved P98.72 billion as of the third quarter of the year.
Image credits: Junpinzon | Dreamstime.com
