Mortgage loan

Outgoing Development Minister Nikos Dendias submitted to Parliament on Monday a plan for dealing with billions of euros in non-performing loans (NPLs) held by Greek businesses, a long-awaited reform which still requires the approval of the troika.

Outgoing Development Minister Nikos Dendias submitted to Parliament on Monday a plan for dealing with some 40 billion euros in non-performing loans (NPLs) held by businesses.

Dendias, who was set to take over as defense minister later on Monday, said that the ministry is also working on a scheme for unpaid mortgages, which total 27 billion euros.

63% of Bulgarians have taken out a consumer loan and half of them are ready to take out a new loan, according to a survey.

According to the survey, as cited by private TV station bTV and Sega daily, 37% of Bulgarians refrain from taking out loans because they fear that they will run up debts.

Bank of Greece data showed Greek property prices declined at a slower pace in the second quarter of 2014, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Apartment prices fell 7.3 percent from a year earlier. The annual pace of decline, which was 8.5 percent in the first three months of the year, has gradually eased since the third quarter of 2013.

Bulgarians will pay fewer fees when getting a new loan after the amendments to the Consumer Credit Act come into effect as of July 22.

These include the fees for utilization and management, and the penalty interests for repayment of mortgage loans, Nova TV informs.

Dimitris Pikrodimitris took out a mortgage four years ago when he was drawing an annual income of €27,000 ($36,720).

But the economy quickly sank into a debt crisis, forcing Greeks to tighten their belts and driving the insurance agent’s wages down to just €6,500 last year.

By Sharon Smyth, Nikos Chrysoloras and Christos Ziotis

Greek banker Theodoros Kalantonis, who has survived the worst of times the past six years, said he can finally see the resurrection of home lending.

In recent months, 40% of all luxury real estate transactions in Bulgaria were funded with mortgage loans, according to the experts.

The performance of the Greek residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) market was stable during the three months ended April 2014, according to the latest indices published by Moody’s Investors Service.

The 90+ day delinquencies of Greek RMBS transactions rose to 5.6 percent of the current balance in April 2014 from 4.3 percent in April 2013.

By Alekos Lidorikis

Demand for new mortgage loans is still low in terms of quantity, but the quality of candidates is high, say competent banking officials.