Average home loan size for women borrowers higher than men: Survey

Do women shop more than men? Yes, they do love treating themselves to retail therapy once in while, much more than their male counterparts. And with more women becoming part of the working population and higher disposable incomes, they are now going a step further to take higher loans than male, even when it comes to borrowing for a home.

A new study by BankBazaar titled Moneymood 2019: How India Will Bank throws up some interesting trends. With more women boosting the household's purchasing capacity seen across metros, the average ticket size of home loans in Delhi for women borrowers was Rs 28 lakh, compared to male borrowers at Rs 24.5 lakh.

In Bengaluru, women borrowed Rs 37.9 lakh -- higher than men at Rs 36.9 lakh, and in Chennai, women borrowed Rs 34.8 lakh compared to men at Rs 30.1 lakh. However, the situation was the opposite in Mumbai, where men borrowed more in home loans on an average of Rs 32.8 lakh compared to women at Rs 29.7 lakh, says the report for which data from 1.6 million loan applications received on BankBazaar in 2018 was used.

The inference drawn from the report is that the amount of loan taken by women is generally higher than men because women apply for a home loan along with their partner to ensure that they get the benefit of lower interest rate (for women) and increase the loan eligibility for a higher loan. In most cases, this is indicative of a household with a double income applying for a home loan.

When men take a home loan, the amount is generally lower, indicating it is a single applicant and perhaps the only earning member of the family.

Data by BankBazaar also indicated that Delhiites took the highest ticket sized home loan (Rs 5 crore), followed by Chennai (Rs 2.2 crore), Bengaluru (Rs 1.5 crore) and Mumbai (Rs 1.8 crore).

According to the report, home sales will increase 16 percent in 2019 with a spurt in demand for a­ffordable housing projects, fueled by women-friendly loan schemes, subsidies for first-time home buyers under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMAY), and the transparency brought about by RERA. However, the growth in demand for loans in the premium housing category will be slower compared to demand in the aff­ordable housing category.