Credit outstanding to the housing sector rose by nearly Rs 10 lakh crore in the last two financial years to reach a record Rs 27.23 lakh crore in March this year, according to the RBI’s data on Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit.

Experts from banking and real estate sectors attributed this growth in housing credit outstanding to a strong revival in the residential property market, post-COVID pandemic on pent-up demand.

According to the data for March 2024, the credit outstanding to the housing (including priority sector housing) stood at Rs 27,22,720 crore in March 2024, up from Rs 19,88,532 crore in March 2023 and Rs 17,26,697 crore in March 2022.

The data also showed that the credit outstanding towards commercial real estate stood at Rs 4,48,145 crore in March 2024. It was Rs 2,97,231 crore in March 2022.

According to reports from various property consultants, housing sales and prices have surged significantly in the past two financial years.

Madan Sabnavis, the chief economist of Bank of Baroda, said the high growth in home loans could be attributed to the housing boom across all segments.

In particular, Mr Sabnavis said that the affordable housing segment had witnessed an uptick due to the government push.

“There was also some pent-up demand for buying homes in the last two years following COVID which is getting reflected here,” he said.