Lower-income families lead the acquisition of loans for the first home

Asunción, IP Agency.- Families with lower incomes are gaining an increasingly predominant space in the local real estate market, since in 2018 they represented only 8.51% of the loans granted by the Development Financial Agency, while this year they already represent 54, 9% of the total credits granted by this entity.

This follows from a report published by mentwhich analyzes data from the Development Financial Agency, referring to the granting of credits in its different products.

According to the data, through the First Home product, which allows debt for up to G. 260 million, families whose monthly income does not exceed seven minimum wages took out housing loans for a total value of USD 13 million (or G . 95,196 million) between January and February 2024.

This figure represents more than half of the G. 173,269 million (or USD 23.7 million) in total credits approved by the Financial Development Agency (AFD) in the first two months of this year.

The First Home product, intended for families with monthly income of up to G. 18.7 million, currently represents 54.9% of the AFD’s total loan portfolio; compared to the 27.3% share of the Mi Casa product, aimed at families with incomes of up to G. 53.6 million.

The president of the AFD, Stella Guillén, considers that the trend will even be accentuated once the Che Róga Porã product is launched, which provides for amounts of up to G. 400 million per family, to be paid in terms of up to 30 years.

“With the leadership of the MUVH, we are launching a new housing product, within the Che Róga Porã program. This program also has a well-defined target audience, which is families with one to four minimum wages,” he said.

He considered that this product will have the lowest rate in the history of the real estate market, which is the final 6.5%.

Economic and social impact

“Housing credit has a very important impact on the development of the country, not only because it fills an urgent need of society: housing, but it also drags with it an important productive chain: that of developers, construction, and the like. , of high impact in terms of labor and economic impact,” says Liz Cramer, executive spokesperson for the Association of Banks of Paraguay (Asoban).

He details that banks have developed healthy competition, in which the client can choose the offer that best suits their profile. “By having long-term loans, such as those introduced thanks to the AFD, banking entities have the possibility of having a client linked for a long time, so they can offer them other products and develop stronger links,” emphasizes the spokeswoman for Asoban.

Among the main challenges of banking, he mentions the need to advance in digital logic for credit procedures and warns that the main delays occur in the General Directorate of Public Registries (DGRP) and in the National Cadastre Directorate ( DNC).

“We consider it a great challenge that we must support the modernization and greater efficiency of these institutions from all sectors, since, for example, to formalize mortgage loans, the term can range between 30 to 90 days,” he points out.

Expo Housing in Constructecnia

The 24th edition of the International Construction Equipment, Machinery and Materials Fair – Constructecnia will be from May 22 to 26 at the Olympic Park of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, in Ñu Guazú, according to its organizers.

This time, the fair will have, among its novelties, a Housing Expo. There will be stands from banks, finance companies, cooperatives and the Ministry of Urban Planning, Housing and Habitat (MUVH) itself, where housing and other real estate products will be offered, either with AFD funds or own resources.

Likewise, like every year, the main cutting-edge equipment and machinery in the construction sector will be on display at the traditional fair. The brands will do market prospecting or their presentation in society, showing themselves and offering their product portfolios.

Constructecnia is presented as the most important event in the construction industry, where professionals and the most prominent brands in the field meet. Throughout the past 23 editions, almost 557,000 visitors were registered, consolidating the exhibition as the point to learn about the new trends and services that this sector has to offer, the organization indicates.