A Home Ownership Dream Come True

Owning a home is a dream for many Papua New Guineans and Bank of South Pacific (BSP) in partnership with the National Government is helping fulfil these dreams.Maggie Kupp Kuli, 39, from the Western Highlands Province has been a BSP customer since 1999, when she was still a student. She moved into her house recently and the experience was truly rewarding.

"It is with great satisfaction I have my own house, a place to rest, no more rentals and moving from house to house," she said with a smile.  

She utilised the BSP and PNG Government First Home Ownership Scheme (FHOS), a Home Loan Product that offers: highly competitive interest rates, at only 4%, affordable loan amounts up to a maximum of K400, 000 and a flexible repayment plan of up to 40 years. Equity is only 10%.

"I really appreciate BSP for making available this loan facility to assist the average Papua New Guinean to own a home, where the requirements are affordable. Thank you BSP, thankyou PNG Government.

If Maggie can do it, so can you. "I encourage others to participate, no need to save big, as long as you have enough equity to meet the bank's requirement you can own a home, so it is worth trying rather than waiting," she adds. 

Vagi Vicky Kulu-Manek, a BSP customer of 20 years, says: "I encourage Papua New Guineans to purchase a property, a dwelling place you can call home. This is a lifetime asset for you, your children and the future. It is a milestone achievement."   

And there are sentiments that home ownership is for the wealthy or something to be done post retirement when superannuation funds are cashed, but these myths have been broken by ordinary, average Papua New Guineans who have taken a step to seek information and help from the bank.

"This is a true investment, not only for yourself but for your future. I highly recommend the BSP first home ownership loan," she added.

BSP has funded up to 141 loans for first home buyers under the FHOS, with a total value of K 54.448 million

The FHOS is now considered a catalyst for growth in the housing market. The market has been attractive to property developers who started building homes and offering them for sale in and around Port Moresby. 

BSP First Home Ownership Scheme was introduced with the aim to provide Papua New Guineans with an affordable Home Loan to purchase their first home.

The majority of loans funded are in Port Moresby largely due to size of market and increased interest from housing developers. However, interests from potential home buyers also remain high from across PNG, from young professionals to long-serving employee in both the public and private sectors.

It is the intention of the partnership arrangement with the government to have a clearly defined set of eligible purposes to guide potential borrowers attempting to benefit from the First Home Ownership Scheme.

These eligible purposes are;

Purchase land under a state lease for the construction of a new house;

Build a new house on a state land; and

Purchase both house and land under a state lease; or

Purchase a house which is less than 6 months old that is on a state land.

There have also been concerns raised about limited number of properties going for K400, 000. We would like to assure our customers that we also have options to address those concerns and ask them to contact us for discussions.

Besides FHOS, customers also can take advantage of our standard home loan product. This product also gives you the freedom to work out your equity and apply for a Home Loan with BSP. The Interest rate and repayment terms vary in this instance.

All interested and potential first home buyers can call into any BSP branch to seek more information or email FirstHomeOwnership@bsp.com.pg or community@bsp.com.pg.

Buying a house is truly a dream come true and there are already many happy customers utilising the Government and BSP's First Home Ownership Scheme.