Housing Finance

Housing represents a key engine of economic growth and is a major component of household wealth.  Housing finance, therefore, lies at the intersection of three areas of priority for many emerging economies:

(i) a strengthened and more accessible financial sector;

(ii) an expanding housing market, and

(iii) an essential part of any urban shelter strategy for the poor.

The Finance Group has provided analytical and lending support in various housing finance initiatives such as the restructuring of housing-oriented development banks, design of risk transfer mechanisms to shelter mortgage borrowers and lenders from extreme interest rate swings, definition of legal and regulatory frameworks to allow the securitization of mortgage loans, and development of instruments, programs and policies to expand housing finance access to lower-income segments of the population.