THE home loan releases of Pag-ibig Fund posted double digit growth for the fourth consecutive year with the agency setting new record highs in housing accomplishments in 2019.
According to its top executives, home loans released by the Pag-ibig Fund amounted to P86.74 billion last year.
It was the highest amount ever released under the agency’s housing loan program.
The released amount increased by 15 percent, or by P11.43 billion. In 2018, the Pag-ibig Fund released only P75.31 billion.
The members who benefited from the loan program also increased to 95,276 in 2019 from 90,375 in 2018.
“We have again set a new record high and achieved a new milestone in our home loan releases in 2019. We are also happy because the number of members who achieved their dream of owning a home through the Pag-ibig Fund also grew last year,” said Eduardo D. del Rosario, chairman of the 11-member Pag-ibig Fund Board of Trustees and secretary of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development.
Del Rosario further said: “We look forward to setting new records and milestones in our pursuit of providing decent and affordable home financing to even more Filipino workers this 2020. This is our commitment as one of the key players in President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s drive to uplift the lives of Filipino families.”
Of the P86.74 billion, P10.64 billion was released as socialized home loans for the benefit of the 27,145 Pag-ibig Fund members belonging to the minimum-wage and low-income sectors.
Meanwhile, Pag-ibig Fundchief executive officer Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti said the growth of the agency’s housing operations has been remarkable in the recent years.
“Before, our home loan releases for the whole year never went above P50 billion. It took us 36 years to break that barrier when we released P57.31 billion in 2016. We challenged ourselves to do even better, which resulted in breaking records each year after that,” Moti said.
Moti further said: “Our home loan releases have been steadily growing at a double digit pace for four consecutive years now. We are confident that the demand for our home loans will continue and we expect our home loan releases to breach the P90 billion barrier this year.”
Moti said the continued demand for the agency’s home loans can be attributed to its lowest interest rates, high loan-to-appraisal ratio, long repayment period and much improved insurance terms.
In total, the Pag-ibig Fund approved P109.04 billion in home loans to finance the acquisition of 113,574 homes. Of this, the amount of P22.3 billion represents the approved home loan applications pending for takeout, the proceeds of which are ready for disbursement upon submission by borrowers of post-approval requirements. (S)