After the latest interest rate cut from the Swedish Central Banken, there was broad political criticism, including from the Minister of Finance, against the entire banking sector, including SBAB, that the variable mortgages were not reduced as much. And from time to time, there are also political demands to use the state mortgage bank to pressure lending rates.
If the profit requirement were lowered, could you have lower mortgage rates then?
Theoretically, it could affect our mortgage rates, says Mikael Inglander.
But.
If SBAB becomes less profitable, those who lend to the bank would probably think that the risk has increased - the bank's credit rating may deteriorate. Then the lenders want more pay, something that in turn gives higher rates to mortgage customers, according to Inglander.
Not positive
If there is a likelihood that rating agencies and those who buy bonds think that this is a greater risk, then you want more pay to buy our bonds. And then the equation is not necessarily positive, he says.
SBAB already has lower return requirements, ten percent, compared to the major banks which are around 15 percent. At the same time, statistics show that the average interest rate on variable mortgages is largely at the same level.
Shouldn't you be able to have lower mortgage rates then?
It is important to remember when it comes to the major banks, when comparing with us, that they have a completely different type of business model, business mix, says Inglander.
Earn more
The major banks have a broader range, they make money on fund and card fees, for example. These are more profitable products measured as return on equity, according to Inglander. The major banks' mortgage business also has a lower return, in line with SBAB's, but the volumes are gigantic on the other hand. So in pure kronor, the profit is clearly higher than for the other business areas.
And that SBAB, like most of the bank competitors, has not lowered the mortgage rate as much as their own financing costs have decreased, is not true, according to Mikael Inglander.
If you look at how the price of a mortgage has developed since we were at the top before the interest rate cuts began and where we stand today, then the mortgage rates in relation to Stibor have gone down much more than the banks' borrowing costs.
Stibor is a kind of internal interest rate that banks pay each other in the financial system.
