Bulgarian Banks Go Cold On Loans For Overdeveloped Resorts Consultants

Bulgarian banks have started introducing stricter requirements on applicants seeking loans to buy property in Bulgaria's bigger resorts, including Bansko and Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach), over worries that these locations faced overdevelopment, credit consultants said, as quoted by investor.bg on June 30.

Foreign nationals interested in buying property in Bulgaria and applying for loans from local banks were increasingly being asked to show their credit history for a period of up to six years, the website quoted Tanya Yakimova from Bulgarian Home Loans, a British consultancy firm that focuses on advising foreigners.

Most of the property deals in Bulgaria's best-known resorts involved foreigners, most of whom treated it as an investment, which made banks wary because of the numerous announced developments, Yakimova said, as quoted by investor.bg.

Bulgarian Home Loans is one of the six lending consultancy firms that have agreed to form an association of credit consultants in Bulgaria, announced also on June 30.

The association, whose members claim to have a combined 80 per cent market share on the segment of advising individual clients, was created to help spread credit consultancy services, but also to lobby for a regulatory foundation to their business, lev.bg reported.