NHMFC lists P300-M 5-yr Bahay Bonds

MANILA, Philippines - The National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (NHMFC) listed yesterday P300 million worth of five-year Bahay Bonds Series 2, or residential mortgage backed securities on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEX), the country’s secondary market platform.

During yesterday’s listing, Vice President and Housing and Urban Development Coordination Council chairman Jejomar Binay said the Bahay Bonds Series 2 or BB2 are safe and profitable investment options for retail investors.

Binay said the retail bonds represent the first retail housing debt, which is backed by an asset pool of high quality loans from NHFMC’s assets.

According to the NHMFC website, investors can buy the bonds for as low as P5,000 at a rate of 4.80 percent a year. The bonds have better interest rates than other comparable investment instruments, the NHMFC also said.

Furthermore, the tax-exempt bonds may be used as collateral to the lending facilities of the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank), a government financial institution.

The bonds were offered to the public from July 26 to Aug. 7 through the different selling agents.

Yesterday’s listing of the bonds in PDEX will enable investors to sell their bonds in the secondary market through the selling agenty where they bought the Bahay Bonds.

The bonds are rated Aa by the Philippine Rating Securities Corp. and has several levels of credit enhancement: express spread and reserves and senior-subordination structure, NHMFC said.

As an added sweetener, the bonds are guaranteed by the state-owned Home Guaranty Corp.