MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. Last year's growth of mortgage lending by 35% is "super abnormal," the Russian Central Bank’s department director Alexander Danilov said, adding that this year such rates are unlikely.

According to the regulator’s projections, the growth of mortgage lending will slow down notably in 2024, standing at around 7-12% compared with 34.5% in 2023.

"Mortgage growth rates totaled 35% in 2023. This is absolutely super abnormal. It is too optimistic to expect such rates to persist for long. I don’t think that the Finance Ministry will have enough resources for that," Danilov said.

The Bank of Russia is concerned not so much about the volume of subsidized mortgage loans as about the fact that the current housing prices dynamics outpaces the growth of household income, he added.

"We are also worried about the fact that inside (the mortgage portfolio - TASS) there are a lot of loans with high risk profile," the official noted.

That said, Danilov does not expect any "apocalyptic scenarios" this year. "We hope that as inflation and rates subside the volumes of standard market mortgage loans will rise. Regarding subsidized loans, it probably depends on parameters, while on market loans they will increase. So we expect no apocalyptic scenarios so far," he explained.