Pag-IBIG home loan releases up 33% in Q1

MANILA, Philippines — Demand for home loans remained robust despite the pandemic as seen in the 33 percent year-on-year growth of home loan releases by state-run Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) in the first quarter.

The fund has announced that its home loan releases grew to P20.94 billion from January to March, up by P5.17 billion from last year’s P15.77 billion.

“This increase in our home loan releases means that more Filipino workers are being helped by Pag-IBIG Fund to secure their own homes, which is very important at this time of pandemic,” said Secretary Eduardo del Rosario who heads the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund board of trustees.

“We recognize the role we play in helping keep our members safe in their own homes, as we heed President Duterte’s call for government agencies to provide social benefits to more Filipinos, especially during these challenging times,”del Rosario said.

The total home loan releases of P20.94 billion in the first quarter enabled 20,712 members to acquire their own homes.

Out of the total amount, P2.2 billion was released as socialized home loans, benefitting 5,074 Pag-IBIG Fund members who have low income or are minimum wage earners.

As early as September up to December last year, home loan releases by the fund were already close to pre-pandemic levels of between P6 billion and P7 billion.

Home loan releases in December 2020 alone reached P12 billion, the highest for a single month in the fund’s history.

Pag-IBIG Fund CEO Acmad Rizaldy Moti said home loan releases in the following quarters may still rise as strict quarantine measures are eased.

“We are glad that our momentum in the last quarter of 2020 carried over to first quarter of 2021, despite the challenges caused by the pandemic,” Moti said.