Pag-IBIG hikes maximum housing loan amount to P10M per borrower

The Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund has raised its maximum housing loan amount per borrower to P10 million in a bid to expand access to home financing to middle-income and higher-earning Filipino workers amid a supply glut of occupancy-ready condominiums in Metro Manila.

In a statement, Pag-IBIG Fund said the move was aimed at widening the reach of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s flagship Expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino or Expanded 4PH Program to address the oversupply of available housing inventory.

It added that the higher loan ceiling complements the program’s ongoing subsidized 3% housing loan rate for qualified buyers of socialized housing, enabling the fund to serve more members seeking homes beyond the socialized housing segment through affordable long-term financing.

Pag-IBIG Fund, however, noted that the higher maximum loan amount remains subject to credit evaluation, capacity-to-pay requirements, collateral appraisal, and other housing loan guidelines to ensure that borrowing remains responsible and sustainable for members.

“With the higher P10-million loan ceiling, Pag-IBIG Fund can now serve more members, especially Filipino workers who seek homes in higher price segments but still require long-term and affordable financing to own homes near their workplaces, schools, and sources of livelihood,” said Housing Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling, who also chairs the Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees.

“This move allows Pag-IBIG Fund to widen access to home financing across more income segments, in line with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to make decent and affordable housing more inclusive and accessible to more Filipino families,” said Aliling.

With the fund’s latest move, the Housing chief called on developers to recalibrate their prices, offer reasonable packages, and help bring their available units within the reach of Pag-IBIG Fund members.

“When housing prices, borrower capacity, and affordable financing meet, more Filipino workers can finally own homes of their own,” said Aliling.

For her part, Pag-IBIG Fund CEO Marilene Acosta explained that with the higher loan ceiling, “qualified borrowers now have even better access to home financing payable for up to 30 years, with interest rates that may go as low as 5.75% a year depending on their chosen fixing period.”

“More importantly, this allows us to widen the reach of the Expanded 4PH Program so that more members, across more income segments, can gain access to decent and affordable homes, while eligible socialized housing borrowers continue to benefit from the 3% subsidized rate,” said Acosta. —AOL, GMA News