The medium value of loans extended to home buyers amounts to about RON 163,000

In 2014, the medium value of a loan granted by Banca Comercială Română (BCR) to home buyers was of approx. RON 163,000. Similar values were reported in Timişoara, Iaşi and Constanţa, while in Bucharest, the medium value of a home loan was of RON 191,000.

On a national level, 45% of the loans granted by BCR to home buyers were used to buy a two-room apartment, 27% to buy a three-room apartment and 10% to buy a studio apartment. More than 13% of the loans were used to buy a villa/house.

In Bucharest, 47% of the loans granted by BCR to home buyers were used to buy a two-room apartment, 27% to buy a three-room apartment and 11% to buy a studio apartment. More than 10% of the loans were used to buy a villa/house.

The buyers’ preferences for the top floor

In 2014, on a national level, 19.4% of buyers preferred to buy an apartment on the top floor.

If for 2013, BCR, together with its partners on the property market, analysed which and how many people chose apartments on the ground floor in 2014, we focused on the Romanians’ preferences for the top floor. If the average was 19.4% on a national level, we have different results on a local level: 15% in Bucharest, 20% in Prahova, 21% in Iaşi, 22% in Cluj, Sibiu and Braşov, 25% in Constanţa and 31% in Timiş and Galaţi. Among the factors which influenced the buyers’ decision to choose an apartment on the top floor, we identified the following: the structure of the existent housing stock, interesting offers from new residential projects for clients, the desire for privacy and a lovely view, as well as an attractive price in many cases”, stated Teodor Mincu, Manager of the BCR Partners Department.

The client’s profile

Regarding the profile of BCR home loan borrowers, they are men (25-40 years old), married, higher education graduates.

“For more than 9 years, we have been collaborating with our partners on the property market to help families buy their dream house with the BCR financial solutions. Over the past few years, BCR has focused on eliminating loan-related risks, such forex risks and interest rate fluctuations. As long as we offer attractive fixed-interest rates to our clients, they would rather protect themselves over long periods of time against risks associated with interest rates. BCR first released the fixed-interest rate covering 3 years, then covering 5 years, and finally we took a huge step and released the fixed-interest rate covering 10 years. In 2014, over 80% of our customers chose the “Casa Mea” mortgage loan with a fixed-interest rate covering 5 years. Considering the long period of time of up to 30 years for granting mortgage loans, we wish to offer our customers predictability over a longer period of time”, stated Teodor Mincu, Manager of the BCR Partners Department.

BCR extended the fixed-interest period associated “Casa Mea” mortgage loans to 10 years, with a 5.95% interest rate chargeable on clients who have or will have their income/pensions account opened with BCR, while charging a ZERO lei application processing fee. For customers who do not have an income account with BCR, the interest rate is only 0.2% higher.

BCR is the first bank in Romania which decided to grant loans only in the currency in which the customers receive their income, beginning with October 2012.

“We would like to thank the real estate agencies and developers that have partnerships with BCR and that participated in the 5^th edition of BCR Real Estate Road Show. In comparison with the event held in 2011 (the first edition), where we talked almost exclusively about loans in Euro and the “Prima Casă” programme, we can talk about housing loans extended in the national currency, as well as about families who buy their second house (more than 25% of customers in 2014)”, Teodor Mincu added.

CALCULATION EXAMPLE

Example of a calculation method which is only valid in May 2015 for customers who receive their income in a BCR account, for a “Casa Mea” credit totalling RON 160,000, with a 30-year payback time: DAE = 5.31%; fixed-interest rate of 5.45% covering 10 years with a variable rate: 4.65%/year (ROBOR 6M + 3%); ZERO lei application processing fee; apartment evaluation fee: RON 370; total payable value: RON 311,593.27; total credit fee: RON 151,593.27.

Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), a member of Erste Group, is the most important financial group in Romania, providing universal banking operations (retail, corporate & investment banking, treasury and capital markets), and covering specialty companies working on the leasing market, private pensions and housing banks. BCR is Romania’s No. 1 bank in terms of asset value (over €14.4 bn.), in terms of client base and in terms of savings and crediting. BCR is also Romania’s most important financial brand, judging by the client trust rate and by the number of persons who consider that BCR is their main banking partner.

BCR uses a network of 22 corporate business centres and 23 mobile offices dedicated to corporate clients, and 509 retails units located in most communities inhabited by at least 10,000 citizens to provide a full range of financial products and services. BCR is Romania’s No. 1 bank running on the banking transactions market, since BCR customers have the largest ATM network at their disposal – nearly 2,000 ATMs and 13,500 POS terminals enabling customers to use their cards for shopping purposes, as well as the complete Internet banking, mobile banking, phone-banking and e-commerce services.

Erste Group is one of the main suppliers of financial services in Eastern European Union. About 46,500 bank officers working in 2,800 branches in seven countries (Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia) assist 16.2 million customers. Erste Group reported a total asset pool worth €202.6 bn. and a 56.1% cost-to-income ratio at the end of Q1 2015. First-ranking common equity index (Basel 3 implemented partially) was maintained at 10.2%.

BCR – External Communication 

Cezar Marin, e-mail: cezar.marin@bcr.ro

For more details about the products and services provided by BCR, please use one of the coordinates below to contact us:

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