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Number of mortgage loans reaches 130 000 in June 2008

Monday, Sep 15, 2008

The mortgage portfolio of Bulgarian banks reached 130 870 loans at the end of June 2008, an increase of 32 228 over the same month of the previous year, data of the central bank showed.
The average size of a mortgage loan surged to 51 692 leva, compared to 44 750 levs in June 2007.
Even though interest rates have risen over the past 12 months, mortgage lending to individuals and households has increased by 50 per cent year-on-year, catching up with consumer loans in terms of both share and volume in lenders’ retail portfolios.
Six banks hiked interest rates for both euro- and lev-denominated loans in August, according to data from moitepari.bg, the website that compares loan products offered by Bulgarian lenders.
Piraeus Bank Bulgaria added 0.45 percentage points to the price of its lev-denominated loans. UBB increased the promotional rate and the rate for the remaining period of local-currency loans by 0.5 percentage points.
Rate spikes were also seen at UniCredit Bulbank (0.5 percentage points), EIBank (one percentage point) and the Municipal Bank (0.25 percentage points). Piraeus Bank, UBB and UniCredit Bulbank also raised interest rates on their euro loans.
Financial analysts have said it would be hard to say which way rates will go in the near future, but expected them to stay flat and then head down. Some market watchers, however, still see more rate hikes in the coming months.

Source: PropertyWise Bulgaria