Thai central bank eases housing loan rules to help home buyers

By Orathai Sriring and Kitiphong Thaichareon

 

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's central bank has further relaxed mortgage lending rules to help home buyers, a deputy governor said on Monday, after tighter rules were imposed last year to rein in bad debt.

 

Under the changes, effective on Monday, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) will allow buyers of first homes worth less than 10 million baht ($329,489) to borrow an extra 10% for furniture, Ronadol Numnonda told a news conference.

 

Buyers of first homes worth 10 million baht or more can now make a minimum downpayment of 10%, versus 20% earlier, he said.

 

"The adjustments will support people to have their first houses more easily," he said. "At the same time, the rules will help curb speculation," he added.

 

The BOT will also let buyers of second houses worth less than 10 million baht make a minimum downpayment of 10% if the mortgage on the first home has been paid off for at least two years. That compared with three years previously, or else buyers had to put down a 20% downpayment.

 

In April, the BOT imposed stricter housing loan regulations on concerns about household debt and rising bad mortgages following looser bank lending.

 

It later relaxed some of the rules in August to help affected borrowers.

 

Thailand's household debt levels are high and will not drop this year, BOT director Sakkapop Panyanukul told reporters.

 

The country's household debt was equivalent to 79.1% of gross domestic product at the end of September, among the highest in Asia.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-20

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because thailand is not enough in debt ? in my moo baan, there are a lot of repossessed houses, or just possessed by a ghost, lol

Looking around CM I would say the whole town is not worth 10 million ????

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thailand's household debt levels are high and will not drop this year, BOT director Sakkapop Panyanukul told reporters.

I suppose a comparison of that statement is having a full bucket of water and turning on the hose that feeds it again 

How about reducing the interest rates rather than encouraging people to borrow more? Thought not.

Absolutely crazy.  Borrow 10% more for furniture?  My first rental house in Thailand had a mattress, a grass mat and a mosquito net.  Then I got a fan.  And later a wash bucket and some rope to hang the laundry on. 

 

(Disclaimer - then I hired a gal to wash my laundry, married her and it's been hell ever since.  Plenty of furniture now, though it's taken over 40 years.)

 

Think I will buy a copier to make receipts for furniture purchases to sell.

1 hour ago, ireckonso said:

Think I will buy a copier to make receipts for furniture purchases to sell.

Unfortunately  your cunning plan won't work as they don't check if you buy furniture  with "the furniture allowance".  you can basically use it for anything.

Borrow an extra 10% to buy Furniture !!!!!

Just how out of control is the lending in this Country ?

Lets see 10% of 10 Million = new Pickup truck with a little bit of pimping done on it

Its impossible to make this stuff up