Central Bank Analysis: Mortgage credits – 10 times less than real estate transactions

An analysis made by the Romanian Central Bank (BNR) indicates that the annual number of mortgage credits in Romania – some 54,000 in 2007 – is over 9 times lower than the number of real estate transactions. „On the other hand, the size of mortgage credits increased year over year, following in a certain measure the real estate growth trend”, the analysis shows.

Other data, in brief:

– the average size of a mortgage credit increased 55% in 2007, compared to 2006;

– 74% of the financing received by real estate companies comes from other countries. At the same time, the financing from Romanian banks is growing (from 4.6% in 2004 to 8.2% in 2008);

– Compared to Estonia (where the largest amount of mortgage credits is recorded), Romania had 0.025 real estate transactions per capita in 2007, while Estonia had 0.038.

– In 2007, the number of real estate transactions increased 7% in Romania, decreasing 17% in Estonia.