Mortgage lending in Ghana expanded by 22% in 2025, according to the Bank of Ghana's annual financial stability report, representing the fastest rate of growth in the mortgage market in five years and reflecting a convergence of factors that are deepening demand for formal home financing in the country. The absolute size of the market remains modest relative to Ghana's overall GDP, a characteristic it shares with most sub-Saharan African mortgage markets, but the growth rate signals a market that is beginning to scale.
The demand driving the expansion comes from two distinct sources. The first is Ghana's domestic professional and business-owning middle class, which has continued to grow in Accra and other major cities despite the economic pressures of recent years, and which is increasingly seeking formal mortgage financing as an alternative to the informal savings-based property purchase model that has historically dominated. Banks and specialist mortgage providers have responded by developing products with more accessible down payment requirements and longer amortisation periods than were typical five years ago.
The second source of demand is the diaspora investor community, which has maintained strong interest in acquiring residential property in Accra as both a future residence and an investment asset. Diaspora buyers are typically purchasing in the mid-to-upper residential segments of the market in East Legon, Cantonments, Roman Ridge, and Labone, and a growing proportion are using mortgage financing from Ghanaian institutions rather than remitting the full purchase price, which is expanding the market's reach.
The growth in mortgage lending has had a stabilising effect on residential property values in Accra's established neighbourhoods. The availability of financing expands the effective buyer pool for any given property, which supports prices and reduces the discount that sellers without access to patient capital have historically had to accept when transacting. For property managers and investors holding residential assets in prime Accra locations, the mortgage market development is a structural positive that improves liquidity and underpins long-term value.
Bank of Ghana data indicates that non-performing loan rates in the mortgage book remain relatively low, which is encouraging for the sustainability of the growth. The principal risk identified by analysts is the sensitivity of mortgage affordability to exchange rate movements, given that many mortgage contracts in Ghana are denominated or indexed in US dollars while borrowers' incomes are in cedis. Institutions are being encouraged by the regulator to develop more cedi-denominated, inflation-linked mortgage products to reduce this structural currency mismatch.