Mortgage sector on growth path as NMRC launches market tracking system

Silently and sure-footedly, the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) is improving processes and standards in the mortgage sector of the economy with initiatives that set the sector on growth path.

The latest of these initiatives is what the company calls Mortgage Market System (MMS) which is a transformational change that tracks activities in the mortgage market and also integrates the entire housing market, covering construction finance, primary mortgage and secondary mortgage activities.

NMRC is a private sector-driven company with the public purpose of developing the primary and secondary mortgage markets by raising long‐term funds from the domestic capital market as well as foreign markets for providing accessible and affordable housing in Nigeria.

Described as a world class system that brings all players in the mortgage and housing market into a centralised technology ecosystem, MMS which was launched in Lagos at the weekend, allows a systematic market to operate, and also allows concentration of activities.

What the system seeks to achieve, besides bringing credibility and attracting investors to the mortgage market, is also to let players and sundry individuals know what is going on in the market. “People come here asking about the market but they cannot get verifiable and dependable information”, said Charles Inyangete, the company’s MD/CEO, who also noted that the system creates a marketplace where there is information flow and people can see what is going on.

What we have, the CEO said,  is a national market system that is not only about mortgage but also the entire housing finance and so “the new system allows us to see pipeline projects and know who is bringing what to the market; and as refinancers, it also allows us to time and determine when to go to the market to raise funds.

 MMS also allows market operators to track all the activities within the construction industry. With it they can see which developer is doing what and in which location. It also allows them to begin to compare prices and know which property is being sold and in which location. This way, the developers will begin to be more competitive in the way they do their thing.

For the mortgage banks, the new system allows them to begin to manage their own systems by themselves using the uniform underwriting standards which NMRC has produced and, with that, they can evaluate their applications based on the underwriting standard.

“We want to make a great impact and that impact is going to be addressed by the number of mortgages the actual players are going to originate. We have given them the tool now so that they will be able to originate mortgages for the market. On our own, we want to grow the mortgage system from less than one percent of GDP today to something significant in the future, Inyangete assured.

The launching of the MMS is part of the drive towards achieving this lofty dream and, according to Chika Akporji, Executive Director, Corporate Strategy and Partnerships, “MMS is part of NMRC’s continuing contribution towards the growth and deepening of the mortgage market in Nigeria”. 

 Before now, the company had   standardized   the   process   of   mortgage origination   and   administration   through   the   publication   of   the   Uniform Underwriting   Standards, believing that   enhancing   the   efficiency   of   systems   and   processes   reduces cumbersome processes by delivering costs reduction to the consumer and making housing more affordable.

Taofeeq Olatinwo, MMS Project Lead, assured that aside from market integration, the MMS platform would enhance cost and operational efficiency throughout   the   housing value   chain   by   improving   turnaround   for   mortgage processing and documentation, stressing that the depth of the system’s capabilities further positions it as a tool for addressing fraud in the mortgage origination and administration processes.