Mortgage collateral is now evaluated in a new way and brought congestion to OP’s service

OP At the beginning of the year, he changed the way in which the mortgage collateral is evaluated. Before the collateral assessment, a person on the loan application was often made.

Now, the value of the collateral is always assessed by a person who is particularly familiar with the security assessment of the customer relationship. The result is congestion. At least in Uusimaa Osuuspanko, the loan decision is currently waiting longer than usual.

“The change in the operating model is unfortunately reflected in temporary congestion in some areas. The situation varies from bank to bank, ”says responsible director of collateral management in OP Group Anna Niinimäki.

According to Niinimäki, congestion is virtually “a few days” and in busy housing sales situations the collateral estimate is hoped for. More people have also been transferred to the collateral assessment to dismantle the congestion.

“We make sure that busy home sales situations can be handled.”

Operating model According to Niinimäki, the change behind the change, in particular, is influenced by the EU bank regulation. The latest Solvency Regulation requires the bank to record and document security.

“As such, it is our basic work to look at our practices against the current and future regulation,” says Niinimäki.

The re -examination of the collateral does not only apply to new home sales, but the collateral will be checked as needed if changes are made to the loan payment plan.

“And in other situations. Collateral is regularly evaluated throughout the loan period. ”

Mortgages In bank regulation, banks are considered to be low -risk lending, as loans have full real guarantees. About 60-70 % of the fair value of the dwelling is accepted.

In solvency regulation, the so -called risk weight of mortgages is low, which means that banks do not have to reserve much capital to cover the risk of loans.

Similarly, banks need to make sure that the collateral truly covers the loan capital of the loan.

Partly According to Niinimäki, the congestion in Uusimaa is due to the fact that the housing trade has picked up somewhat in the early part of the year.

“Approximately 15 % more loan applications are made than last January. But I do not consider it a very significant pick -up, because a year ago in January, trade volumes were particularly low, ”he says.

A year ago, first home buyers were removed from the transfer tax, which increased loan applications at the end of 2023, but stopped the home sale again in 2024.

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