BCR Banca pentru Locuinte says 19 percent of young clients seek ‘immediate’ loan

Newsroom 04/09/2013 | 14:59

BCR Banca pentru Locuinte (BpL), the supplier of Bauspar products (saving-lending for the housing sector), said on Wednesday that 19 percent of its clients aged 18 to 34 are looking to take out an “immediate” loan, according to an IRSOP study commissioned by the company.

Petre Datculescu, director of IRSOP Market Research & Consulting, said the overall share of clients seeking to take out loans increased by 6 percentage points to 25 percent. In the same time, 24 percent of the respondents said they would take out a loan following the saving period, which is a 2 percentage point increase on 2012. The study was carried out in July and had a sample of 662 respondents.

Datculescu explained that people are starting to exit the “expectation” period, in the aftermath of the crisis, and are planning to revamp their homes or buy new houses.

The client portfolio of BCR BpL rose by 15 percent year-on-year and the Bauspar supplier granted 1,200 loans worth a combined RON 80 million (EUR 18 million). The company said the contracts reached maturity and clients are starting to use the lending option in Bauspar.

“A third of our clients want to continue saving once the contract is concluded. When they get close to the loan point, they decide to increase their initial contract, they want to wait, to save more and attract a larger sum,” said Carmen Schuster, vice-president BCR BpL.

The company said that 27.6 percent of its portfolio comprises Bauspar loans, and 30.4 percent are intermediary loans. Anticipated loans hold the remaining share of 41.9 percent. It added that 41 percent of its clients are aged 20 to 40, while 42 percent are in the 41 to 60 age segment. Another 15 percent are older than 60, while 8 percent are clients aged up to 20.  

More than 50 percent of the loans are granted for the revamping of homes, while 32.3 percent are used for the acquisition of property. Refinancing deals, advanced loan payments, house constructions, or land acquisitions each hold shares below five percent.

BCR BpL cut the interest rate on mortgage-backed intermediary and anticipated loans in RON to 6.25 percent in the lending period, from 7 and 8 percent, respectively.

Schuster explained the reduced interest rate covers a maximum of 4 years. Following this period, the loan contract can be turned into a Bauspar loan, with a fixed yearly interest rate of 5 or 6 percent, depending on the selected product.

According to the National Statistics Institute, Romania reached a housing stock (conventional homes) of 8.5 million in 2012, which was an increase of 0.45 percent on the previous year.

The biggest shareholder in BCR BpL is Austria’s BCR, with an 80 percent stake and S Bausparkasse der oesterreichischen Sparkassen, the saving-lending specialized bank of Erste Group, has 20 percent of the shares.

Ovidiu Posirca

 

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