09 November
Bulgaria's mortgage market has huge growth potential - MKB Unionbank
Bulgaria's mortgage loan market still has significant growth potential, with several indicators remaining below levels in other states, Maria Ilieva, CEO of MKB Unionbank, said on November 7 2011 during the BalREc real estate conference in Sofia.
Currently, residential loans per capita in Bulgaria stand at 600 euro, well below the levels recorded in central and eastern Europe (CEE), Ilieva said. The figure for Hungary is 1582 euro, for Slovakia - 2153 euro, the Czech Republic - 2943 euro, Estonia - 4402 euro, while the average rate for the euro zone is 11 419 euro.
"These comparisons show a large and still untapped potential of Bulgaria's mortgage loan market as far as financial inter-mediation in the country follows the trends in new EU member states adopted in the previous wave of enlargement," she said.
Ilieva also said she was cautiously optimistic about the development of the country's residential market and hence the activation of mortgage loans provision, as the data clearly shows the low penetration of mortgage lending in the country.
A constraining factor to the signing of more deals at this stage is the relative uncertainty of households in terms of property prices and employment, she said.
