Now it’s more profitable receiving a loan for buying real estate in Albania

The market of real estate in Albania improved significantly by the end of the last year, declared a new Bank of Albania report. According to the report, the index of houses’ prices increased as well as the number of loans for house buying purpose, mainly in the second semiannual of 2014, while the interest rate for these loans decreased.
The surplus funds of lending for real estate improved by the end of 2014, increasing by 8.3% in comparison to the surplus in the beginning of the year. Although lending for buying real estate decreased by 1% in 2014 compared to 2013, the weighted interest rate for this type of lending decreased to 6.7% in the second semiannual of 2014.
The decrease of the weighted interest rate came as a result of several easing monetary policies applied by the second tier banks and the Central Bank, which also managed to decrease of the interest rates of lending in Albanian Lek (ALL). Since the costs of lending in ALL have decreased, the situation has improved for lenders who seek to buy real estate.
The report issues that during the fourth quarter of 2014 the index of houses’ price improved by 1.2% compared to 2013.
Despite the decrease of the interest rate for lending, the quality of lending portfolio for real estate has decreased since the report of outstanding loans has increased to 15.1% from 14% registered in the beginning of 2015, Bank of Albania announces.
News source: ATA
Photo credits: Wikimedia