RBI rate cut to prevent mortgage rate rise: Moody’s

12 Apr 2019 Evaluate

Global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service in its latest report has said that Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) recent move to cut repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 6 percent is credit positive for residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) market as it will help offset rising funding cost for the lenders, preventing further increase in mortgage rates. It also said “funding costs for lenders have increased by 50 basis points over the past year, and as a result we view a cut in mortgage interest rates as unlikely.”

According to the report, mortgage interest rates will remain elevated through the rest of 2019, following significant increases over the past 12 months. It said “however, we do not expect the elevated interest rates to cause delinquencies in the mortgages backed RMBS as in most cases these higher interest rates have been passed on to borrowers in the form of extensions to loan terms, rather than higher monthly loan amounts.”

The rating agency further said that strong loan characteristics, low household debt and India’s high economic growth would support borrowers’ ability to repay mortgage loans. It also noted that the mortgages backed RMBS continues to have strong characteristics, including borrowers with good credit histories, low loan-to-value ratios and amortizing principal and interest loan terms. It added that these strong characteristics will support the performance of RMBS and keep delinquency rates stable at their current low levels over the next year.

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