Keywords

housing finance, banks, housing savings banks, primary/secondary home loan market, creditworthiness

Housing issues are a part of economic, financial and social policies of every country, as well as the Republic of Croatia. Legal conditions for implementation of various housing finance models have been created in order to find accessible solutions that would enable average citizens to solve their housing problem. Four housing finance models currently existing in Croatia are separately analysed in this paper (banking finance, contract savings for housing, the Fund for the Long-Term Financing of Residential Construction with Government Subsidy and the Publicly Subsidised Residential Construction Program - PSRC). The most important home loan lenders are universal banks, whereas more intense lending activities of housing savings banks are still expected. The Fund for the Long-Term Financing of Residential Construction with Government Subsidy has never gotten under way, and the most recent government model - PSRC has raised strong interest of citizens. However, existing models have not provided an adequate solution to the housing finance problem. This paper offers a comparative analysis and evaluation of present housing finance models and, on the basis of the results and conclusions of the conducted research, hints at solutions that may improve the present situation and foster the development of the national housing finance market.