Loans against property: a time bomb ticking away?

In the fiscal year that ended 31 March, credit growth of India’s banking industry dropped to an 18-month low. The microfinance industry, in contrast, saw its loan book grow at the fastest pace and for a few it more than doubled. The scenario has not changed for banks in the past few months; year-on-year credit growth is now 9.8%. There are hardly any takers for loans from the corporate sector; the saving grace has been mortgages and retail loans.

At around Rs.12 trillion, the mortgage market in India is a little less than 10% of the size of its economy even as the overall bank credit market is about 50% of the nation’s gross domestic product or GDP. Indeed, the mortgage market has been growing at a fairly robust pace over the past decade but it is still small compared with other nations. For instance, the Chinese mortgage market is about 20% of its GDP; for the UK and the US, it has been 88% and 81%, respectively, while in Denmark, it is more than the GDP.

Home loans are the safest bet for Indian bankers, as they are backed by securities and the amount of loan is always less than the value of the property. In case of a default, the property can always be seized and sold to recover the money. Also, most banks and non-banks finance the first home purchase of salaried individuals; income verification for such home buyers is not difficult and affordability can be judged transparently.

Typically, around 40% of monthly income is used to service the loan in the form of equated monthly installments. However, within the home loan market, the increasing popularity of loans against property or LAP is causing some discomfort. A few analysts say that LAP is a ticking time bomb.

To be sure, Loan against Property is a secured loan. It takes a residential or a commercial property as collateral; self-employed individuals and professionals are LAP customers. Such loans are typically taken to support business in the form of expansion, diversification, consolidation or even meeting working capital needs. It is also taken for personal use like weddings, education, medical exigencies, repayment of previous loans and debt consolidation. According to rating agency Crisil Ltd, about 75% LAP customers are self-employed individuals doing business, 15% are salaried and the rest self-employed professionals.

The average LAP ticket size is higher than a home loan; its tenure is also shorter than the home loan, with the average being four to five years against 10-11 years for home loans. Typically, the interest rate for LAP is always 4-5 percentage points higher than the home loan rate. Similarly, the loan-instalment-to-income ratio is also higher for LAP—at least 50% against 40% for home loans. Finally, the loan-to-value ratio for LAP is lower—around 60% against 80% for home loans. In other words, a home buyer can get a Rs.80 lakh loan to buy a Rs.1 crore property but for LAP, a Rs.1 crore worth of property will fetch a loan of Rs.60 lakh.

[Source: http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/VbRw1lmZwZFfeZP43yCjLJ/LAP-A-TIME-BOMB-TICKING-AWAY.html]