Banks are not yet in a hurry to radically reduce rates on market mortgages, despite regular reductions in the key rate. Most market participants prefer to change various conditions for mortgage programs, primarily related to refinancing. In this segment, competition for borrowers has become especially intense.
A massive reduction in rates on market mortgage programs has not yet occurred, despite the systematic actions of the Central Bank to reduce the key rate. So far, only Sberbank and Dom.RF Bank have announced a reduction in rates by 0.2–1 p.p. for the purchase of an apartment. Moreover, Sberbank’s rates on main market products were often higher than those of other banks. According to PJSC Dom.RF, as of April 24 (before the announcement of the reduction), the weighted average rates for most of the largest banks in the primary and secondary markets were 18.2–19.9% per annum, while for Sberbank it was 20.2% and 19.7% per annum, respectively. At the same time, the bank remains the leader in issuing – in March its share in the total volume of mortgage issuance under market programs was 60%.
Other market participants prefer to reconsider additional conditions. First of all, this concerns the down payment (ID), depending on the amount of which the rates are differentiated (Sberbank, VTB). In particular, rates on a loan with a PV of over 50% may be 1–2 percentage points lower than rates on a loan with a lower PV. Banks also offer various promotions. Rates may be reduced by 0.2–0.9 percentage points when the transaction is completed within 30 days after submitting the application (TCB) or for a loan of 10 million rubles. (Alfa Bank).
Banks are showing particular interest in mortgage refinancing programs.
As follows from Kommersant’s market monitoring and data from Dom.RF PJSC, since April 11, seven large banks have reduced refinancing rates (Sberbank, Dom.RF Bank, Gazprombank, Uralsib) or resumed this program (UBRiR, St. Petersburg Bank, Metallinvestbank). Some market participants (Sberbank, VTB, Alfa Bank, PSB) also offer zero commission for transferring a loan from another bank.
As a result, the range of weighted average refinancing rates was mainly 17.9–19.6% per annum. Only Sberbank and Bank Dom.RF remained higher – 21.5–22% per annum. However, according to PJSC Dom.RF, the share of refinancing in the total volume of issuance of these banks is less than 0.5%, while for large banks it averages 7%, and in some cases reaches 12–25%.
Experts and market participants note that the dynamics of rates under market programs largely depends not only on the movement of the key rate, but also on the internal policies of banks.
Banks maintain a high level of caution “due to uncertainty in financial markets, inflation risks and the desire to maintain the profitability of their assets,” says Alexey Kiryukhin, junior director for credit institution ratings at the Expert RA agency. By the end of April, the Moscow Exchange index dropped to its minimum since December 2025 (below 2630 points). According to the Central Bank, in April, population expectations for inflation, although they dropped to 12.9%, still remain in the range of 2024–2025 values.
In such conditions, refinancing is “an opportunity for banks to increase their mortgage portfolio in a stagnating market,” notes Pavel Zhalobov, senior director of ratings of financial institutions of the NRA rating service. It is in this segment that the competition of banks for borrowers has become most intense, since “for the most part, banks do not carry out internal refinancing or it is less interesting in terms of conditions than changing the lender,” notes General Director of the Mortgage Lending Center Ekaterina Mishina.
Banks strive to increase their portfolio primarily through trusted clients. Refinancing allows “to evaluate the quality of fulfillment of clients’ obligations and their payment discipline,” notes Anton Pavlov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Absolut Bank. Uralsib noted an increase in the number of applications under the refinancing program, by approximately 15% monthly since the beginning of the year. Absolut Bank expects that by the end of the year, about 30% of mortgage loans will be issued under this program.
Borrowers can reduce the rate in this way if certain conditions are met. First of all, this is the long term of the loan and its relative “youth”. If a loan was taken out for 10–15 years about a year ago, then “it makes sense to refinance even if the rate is reduced by 2 percentage points,” says Anton Pavlov, since the monthly payment will be significantly reduced. It is also worth considering that “the difference in payments should dominate the cost of the refinancing procedure,” which includes the valuation of the property, the state duty for imposing an encumbrance in favor of the new lender and insurance in favor of the new lender, adds Ekaterina Mishina.
In the near future, this situation in the mortgage lending market will continue, experts and market participants believe. Banks will continue to use various marketing tools to maintain demand for market-based mortgage programs, however, significant changes in rates will affect only refinancing programs.
