Residential mortgage in modern Russia

Abstract

The article presents a comparative analysis of residential mortgages in Russia and the United States. The primary ways of mortgage refinancing are outlined. Predominance of the elements of two-level refinancing system of residential mortgage in Russia and the United States is shown. The activity of the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending (AHML), the basic tool of the Russian government’s mortgage policy, is described in detail. In its objectives and functions the AHML is similar to the American mortgage agencies Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Similarities were identified in the Russian and US residential mortgages in the pre-crisis period (high rates of mortgage growth, favourable economic conjuncture, low interest rates, large increase in house prices, speculative housing demand). During the mortgage crisis, the policies of the Russian and US governments and monetary authorities had also much in common (monetary policy easing, cheap central banks loans, extended facilities of mortgage refinancing on the part of state agencies, mortgage rescue scheme, social mortgage programs). But the scope of mortgage in Russia is enormously narrow as compared to the US mortgage. The most important reason for that - low incomes of the Russian population.