Sberbank steeply raises mortgage rates for available, unfinished homes from 11.3% to 18.6%

MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - Following a drastic increase of the key rate by the Russian Central Bank (CBR), Sberbank has again raised mortgage rates, this time by 7.3%, the bank said in a statement.

Mortgage rates for available and unfinished homes will grow from 11.3% to 18.6% on March 1.

The rates remain unchanged in government-sponsored programs, it said.

Clients may cut mortgage rates with electronic registration of the transaction, an initial 20% payment, or full or partial confirmation of income with a statement of their financial position from the Russian Pension Fund. The bank also offers rates of 0.1% and up under subsidy programs with developers.

"Starting on March 1, Sberbank adapts retail loan rates to the market conditions linked to an increased key rate of the Russian Central Bank," the statement said. The bank underlined that the rates of consumer loans and mortgage loans issued earlier were not subject to change.

The Russian Central Bank drastically increased the key rate from 9.5% to 20% on February 28.

Once that was done, a number of banks said they were planning to review deposit and loan rates, and some banks already did so. For instance, Sberbank substantially increased rates of ruble-denominated deposits and offered new deposits denominated in dollars and euros starting on March 1. The maximum annual yield of the SberVklad Prime ruble-denominated deposit (including all subscriptions and interest capitalization) is 18%.

Before that, Sberbank increased mortgage rates by 1% on February 1, 2022, and by another 1% on February 18, 2022.