Kenanga Research expects the four-panel banks for Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia's Special PR1MA End-Financing (SPEF) scheme to disburse up to RM5.7 billion in loans, with CIMB Group set to receive the bulk of financing, reported the New Straits Times.

Other local banks handling the special loan scheme, which began on 1 January and ends on 31 December 2017, are RHB Banking Group, AmBank Group and Malayan Banking Bhd.

Buyers under the scheme can choose between step-up financing or step-up with EPF Account 2 withdrawals options. However, the scheme comes with a higher interest rate of 4.75 percent compared with the average 4.45 percent interest rate for conventional loans.

The scheme targets to provide 95 percent financing for 15,000 homes priced at RM350,000 to RM400,000 on average. This could see the banks forking out RM4.9 billion to RM5.7 billion in new loans, said Kenanga Research.

"While details are not clear on how the targeted 15,000 units will be carved out among the four banks, or who or how among them will get the bulk of the financing scheme, we believe that CIMB will acquire the most" said the research house.

"CIMB's exposure to the residential property segment is the highest among them, increasing by 13 basis points (bps) since the first quarter of last year, although its average lending yields (ALR) is the highest in the industry, standing at 5.16 in the third quarter of last year (versus the industry's 4.55 percent), implying higher appetite for mortgage loans.”

Despite an easing in lending rates, Maybank saw its exposure to the property segment take a downhill path, indicating lower appetite in the segment, said Kenanga Research.

It revealed that housing loans made up 23.5 percent of the four banks' combined loans as at Q3 2016.

Most banking stocks under Kenanga Research's coverage retained their "market perform” calls, except for CIMB (outperform) and Affin Holdings Bhd (underperform).