Down payment and guarantees currently required for mortgage loans

Those who want to take out a loan for a home should have an at least 15% downpayment ready, but there is also the possibility that the bank could ask for additional guarantees - i.e. mortgage on other properties. Whilst last summer banks promoted credits with a zero downpayment and accepted an indebtedness level of up to 65% of a client's income, now the offer has been significantly adjusted. Some banks ask their clients to come up with up to half the value of the home they want to secure funding for, while the indebtedness level no longer exceeds 50% of the income. At the BCR, the largest bank in the Romanian system, the average downpayment is of 25% of the home's value, and is additionally correlated with the value of the guarantees pledged, according to Sorin Mititelu, executive manager of the Department for business and retail product development. Terms are somewhat more relaxed at Banca Transilvania, where the average downpayment for clients that have taken out mortgage loans in the last three months was 19%. The average indebtedness level was also relatively high, at 57%, while the maximum level accepted by the bank is 60% for mortgage credits, and 65% for personal loans with real estate pledged as collateral. Guarantees pledged by clients averaged 137% of the credit's value.