The total value of loans issued exceeded $34 billion.
The mortgage lending market recorded 19,520 mortgage transactions in 2021, 26% higher than the previous record in 2017. The total value of these transactions exceeded $34 billion.
Compared with 2020, there is an increase of 51% in volume and 46% in value.
Borrowers issued many mortgage loans in the first quarter of 2021, most of them in January — 3,004 mortgage loans with a total value of $ 5.66 billion.
The mortgage market was growing throughout the year and in the fourth quarter recorded 4,187 mortgages, 10% more than in the fourth quarter of 2020 and 21% more than in 2019.
December 2021 broke the December 2020 record by 1.3% and December 2019 by 3.8%. In the last month of the year, there were 1,178 mortgages with a total value of $2.74 billion.
Last year, mortgage lending became extremely popular, due to the policy of the Central Bank of the UAE. The Central Bank pursued a policy of lowering interest rates, deposit payments, and reforms in LTV (Loan-to-Value Ratio).
The most significant reform of the Central Bank during the pandemic was the 5% reduction in the first payment. Thus, non-UAE citizens have to pay only 20% of the loan amount, and UAE citizens – 15%.
In general, the reforms have had the greatest impact on attracting new buyers to the market. According to mortgage market analysts, in the I–III quarters of 2021, new buyers in the UAE market received 83% of mortgage loans.
