Terminated contracts make up stable share of housing purchases by installments, no more than 5% - CBR
MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The share of terminated contracts in housing purchasing by instalments is no more than 5%, and the Central Bank of Russia will monitor the situation, CBR Governor Elvira Nabiullina said.
"We have noted these risks - that the payment-by-installments is temporary, and then everybody expects that it should be refinanced and a mortgage loan issued. And this doesn't happen automatically, which, of course, is why we were concerned by it. We are monitoring the market closely. I can say terminations are at a stable level for now, no more than 5% currently. We will monitor this situation. And by the way, we have recommended that banks do not allow payments by installments to take up a large share of their projects, in order to ultimately keep this to a minimum," she said.
Mortgage programs and purchasing housing by installments from property developers gained in popularity after mass preferential mortgages ceased to be available. According to data from the CBR, payment installments owed by citizens for housing under construction totaled 1.4 trillion rubles at October 1, 2025, which was 17% of all shared-equity agreements.
Sales made via this channel and using the buyer's own funds made up 55% of total sales in the first quarter of 2025. In the second quarter of 2025, the share of payment-by-installments and payments using buyers' own funds fell to 40%, and to 34% in the third quarter. This decline was primarily due to a growth in mortgage lending and tougher conditions offered by the majority of property developers - a higher down payment and a shorter repayment period for installments - as well as the more conservative attitude of credit organizations. "Nonetheless, around 40% of sales for projects due for completion in 2026 and later, less than half of which have been sold at this moment, are purchased in installments from the developer," the CBR said in November last year.
The CBR has said repeatedly that programs to purchase housing by installments from property developers often go hand in hand with an increased cost for the housing in question and a risk of additional financial losses for buyers. Property developers, essentially taking on the role of banks, carry uncharacteristic credit risks. Buyers wishing to terminate the contract risk the devaluation of their funds, fines and difficulties retrieving the sum they have already paid if the developer has financial difficulties, for installment payments after commissioning.
In June 2025, the CBR issued a recommendation to help banks assess risks of loans issued to developers in a timely manner. The CBR regularly surveys the biggest banks on their practices around using payment-by-installments programs to fund projects. It is also working to establish a more formalized system to take such programs into account in the regulations and procedure which credit organizations follow when creating provisions for possible loan losses in project financing.
