To date, there have only been a handful of mortgage-backed transactions in the Gulf region. Reef’s potential deal would be a first in Bahrain. Last year, Dubai’s Tamweel completed a $250 million RMBS via Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered. That deal was backed by a portfolio of 1,000 mortgages. Other regional mortgage originators, such as Qatar Islamic Bank, are also looking at the securitization of their portfolios using an Islamic format. But the market is still in its earliest stages.
New mortgage laws in Saudi Arabia might enable a mortgage market to emerge, partly funded by the private sector, according to research from Standard & Poor’s. Mortgage growth there will be fostered by the boom in home building as well as from financing the purchase of houses already built and the refinancing of existing homes to fund home improvements or new businesses.
More widely, increasing economic stability, lower interest rates and lower inflation are making mortgages more affordable to a wider customer base. Part of the challenge of fostering a nascent mortgage market is for banks to satisfy the demand for financing while developing efficient market structures. Reef’s deal with Calyon is one way of tackling this task.