Home Loans Almost Halve Over Three Months

Bulgaria's new home mortgages dropped almost in half in July-September, compared to the previous quarter, central bank statistics show. Banks gave 6406 new loans worth 620 million leva from July to September, compared to 12 165 worth 761.7 million leva for the three months before that. Lenders have put lending plans on the back burner and are cutting down in all segments amid brisk consumer demand and growing appetite for cash, bankers have said. Greek Alpha Bank's one-year fixed-rate home mortgage for purchase, construction or finishing works was the most popular product on fincity.bg, a website tracking and comparing financial services and products. Loan offers from DSK Bank and Raiffeisenbank were the next most popular. The average mortgage rose to 53 796 leva in the third quarter, up from 51 692 leva in the three months before that, according to central bank data. Banks' combined home loan portfolio added up to 7.4 billion leva, up 9.1 per cent on the quarter, down from the 12 per cent recorded in the previous three months. Compared to end-September 2007, the volume of home loans grew by 49.5 per cent.