Bankers expect mortgage loans to be unfrozen by March
Bankers expect loans for homes to be unfrozen in the first
quarter of the year, after imposing less restrictive standards on
this segment compared with that of consumer loans in the last three
months of 2009, according to a survey conducted by the NBR
(National Bank of Romania).
16.4% of respondent banks say they will relax mortgage lending
terms by the end of March, while the rest expect lending terms to
remain the same as in the previous quarter.
Analysts say, however, that the population's indebtedness potential
is low and that retail loans will not see a spectacular rise in
2010. "Individual loans do not have very good prospects this year
because incomes have been adjusted, while the population's
indebtedness level is relatively high. Any rise on the retail
segment will mainly come from mortgage loans, encouraged by the
extension of the 'First Home' scheme," says Ionut Dumitru, chief
economist of Raiffeisen Bank.