Banks issued a total of 37,371 new mortgage loans in the period from January to September 2025, representing an 11.7% decrease compared to the same period last year, according to the National Bank of Georgia (NBG). This equates to 4,958 fewer loans issued year-on-year.
Despite the decline in the volume of mortgages, the total value of the mortgage portfolio increased by 5%, reaching GEL 3.2 billion, an increase of GEL 156 million, due largely to rising real estate prices.
The average interest rate on mortgages issued in September 2025 stood at 12.81% in GEL, up one percentage point from the same period in 2024.
The average mortgage amount also increased, reaching 86,700 GEL in 2025, compared to GEL 73,000 last year. Analysts attribute the increase to both higher property prices and the reduction of the initial deposit requirement by the NBG. Previously, borrowers had to provide 15% of the apartment value as a down payment, but from February 2025, this was reduced to 10%, allowing loans to cover up to 90% of the property cost.
The NBG implemented the deposit reduction to counter the decline in mortgage lending. However, despite this measure, banks still issued fewer loans in the first eight months of the year compared to 2024.
