The mortgage market in Tanzania has been growing steadily as the pace of housing investment picks up. As at 31st December 2013 total lending by the banking sector for the purposes of residential housing was TZS 156.50 billion, which is equivalent to USD 96.8 million. This represents an annual growth of 46%. The total number of mortgage loans also grew rapidly, from 1,889 at the beginning of 2013 to 2,784 by end of December 2013, an increase of 47%. Factors attributed to this increase include a favorable interest rate environment during the year, increased awareness on mortgage loans among borrowers, public awareness campaign by major banks as well as the launch of mortgage loan product by CRDB Bank Plc, Exim Bank and other TMRC member banks that had no such a product. The trend of mortgage lending both in terms of amounts and number of loans over the year. As at the end of December 2013, 19 different banking institutions were offering mortgage loans, with the number expected to increase even further as more lenders continue to launch mortgage loan products. The mortgage market was dominated by three top lenders, who amongst themselves command about 67% of the mortgage market. Azania Bank, which has the longest presence in the mortgage market, was a market leader commanding 24% of the market share, closely followed by Stanbic Bank with about 21% of the mortgage market share. The market experienced new entrants and there are prospects that large banking institutions such as NBC and NMB will enter the mortgage market as competition in the traditional banking products continue to intensify. The market share for top eight mortgage lenders, in terms of outstanding mortgage debt.