Home financing in the Ghanaian banking industry dates back to the days of Bank for Housing & Construction (BHC), Home Finance Company (now HFC bank) and Ghana Building Society (which is now a savings & loans company) - the first collapsed years ago on the back of a very questionable world bank report, the second still operational in a different make-up as it provides more non-housing loans that the original niche, and the least said about the latter the better.
Then entered GHL around 2005/6, a private non-bank mortgage lender (recently been given a provisional banking license as well), which has to date has funded loans circa $160m - a figure that may look a drop in the ocean over more than a decade if compared to developed markets.
Nonetheless, a few of the 33/34 universal banks and non-bank loans provide home loans are different qualifying requirements, which you may need to find out from them.
Note when taking a home loan (mortgage) from a traditional bank:
They will require your salary to be transferred monthly to your Bank, Personal Current or some other for them to consider your application.
If your salary is currently being transferred to a bank other the prospective mortgage lender, you may need to open a Bank, Personal Current with them and request for your salary to be transferred into this account instead.
After the crediting of your first salary in the account, they will consider your application for a Home Finance Loan. You will however be required to provide statements of the account in which your salary was transferred for the past six months.
The process for application for a Home Finance Loan usually takes longer than most loans and the loan is disbursed in stages.
An arrangement fee is applicable when applying for the loan.
Note: Additional requirements may apply. Please direct all your questions to the external mortgage lender of your choice.
You may speak with any of the following if you decide not to take advantage of our inhouse lending options:
• Any regulated bank not listed above but offers home loans may help.
Latest Bank of Ghana (BoG) Report - May 2017
The average interest rate for mortgage loans among commercial banks remained at 33.2 percent in May 2017. According to the Bank of Ghana’s Annual Percentage Rate (APR) and Average Interest (AI) report, GCB Bank still offers the highest interest on mortgages. The bank’s interest on mortgage loans still stands at 40.3 percent.
It is followed closely by Bank of Africa, the Royal Bank and Cal Bank which placed second, third and fourth with interest on mortgage loans between 35.5 and 40.5 percent.
Barclays Bank placed fifth offering mortgage with interests between 34.2 and 38.5 percent. Ecobank is 6th with 34.1 percent and Prudential Bank seventh with 33.6 percent.
The eighth highest interest on mortgage is offered by UT Bank at 33.2%, FBN Ghana with 32.8 percent placing 9th and HFC with 31.1 percent occupying the 10th position.
At the eleventh position is Sahel Sahara Bank offering 29.7% on mortgage loans and Stanbic Bank placing 12th with 25.3%.
No Mortgage Banks
Eighteen (18) banks, more than half the universal banks in Ghana, according to the BoG report, do not offer mortgage loans.
They include;
Access Bank, ADB, Energy Bank, First Atlantic Bank, Capital Bank, Fidelity Bank, First National Bank.
Others are; GN Bank, GT Bank, NIB, Omnibank, Sovereign Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, SG Bank, UBA, Universal Merchant Bank, Unibank, Zenith Bank.