日本大型银行在利率上行后重新调整住房贷款策略

TOKYO -- Big Japanese banks have reached a turning point in their mortgage strategies, as higher interest rates make corporate loans more lucrative.
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank is shifting the customer-facing side of its home loan business to Docomo SMTB Net Bank, in which it holds a roughly 45% stake.
Rather than grow the business on its own, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust will seek to use the online bank's low-cost operating model, customer base and convenience.
Mizuho Bank, meanwhile, is considering a mortgage tie-up with online lender Rakuten Bank.
These moves reflect the sea change in Japan's interest rate environment.
"In the past we would have pursued customers even if margins were thin, but things are different now," an executive at a major bank said. "You can't compete on the old model of lending broadly at low rates."
The yield on benchmark 10-year Japanese government bonds has topped 3%. The Bank of Japan in June raised its policy rate to 1%, the highest level in about 31 years. In response, MUFG Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. hiked adjustable mortgage rates by 0.25 percentage points from September.
Mizuho Bank, Resona Holdings and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust are also expected to lift rates in October. With around 80% of homebuyers choosing adjustable-rate mortgages, these increase will have a broad impact.
For financial institutions, mortgages have long served as a customer acquisition tool. By competing on rates to attract working-age borrowers, banks gained depositors, then deepened these relationships through credit cards, asset management and other services.
But the BOJ's rate hikes have made lending to businesses more profitable.
Even after recent increases, the most favorable adjustable mortgage rates are around 1%. Many corporate loans offer higher returns. Rapid growth in corporate lending has also reduced the capacity for mortgage origination.
Homebuyers, meanwhile, can now compare mortgages easily on their smartphones and choose the bank offering the best terms.
"It is no longer unusual for customers to pick and choose their banks, such as having a megabank as their primary account and an online bank for a low-rate mortgage" a banking industry insider said.
As mortgage lending becomes less attractive, its risks are also rising. The average price of a newly built condominium in the greater Tokyo area exceeded 160 million yen ($1 million) in July, according to Japan's Real Estate Economic Institute. Bigger borrowing increases the risks associated with repayment delays and loan losses.
A fiscal 2025 survey by the Japan Housing Finance Agency found that 59% of financial institutions were concerned that loan delinquencies could increase during a period of rising interest rates, up 3 percentage points from fiscal 2024. Those citing concern over higher funding costs rose 4 points to 43%.
Even so, banks cannot abandon the mortgage market entirely because it remains an important point of contact with retail customers.
MUFG Bank recently removed a restriction on a 40-year mortgage product that limited eligibility to buyers of properties costing more than 100 million yen.
The goal is not simply to increase lending. "We need to rethink how we encourage customers to maintain relationships with us throughout their lives by strengthening reward programs and other services," said the deputy manager of MUFG's retail and digital products division.