Interest rates fell by around half a percent against mid-September. If you take an average –value loan, this means almost 100 lei less on the monthly installment.
A client with a loan of RON180,000 (around EUR40,000) taken out over a 30-year period, pays a monthly installment of between RON1,130 and RON1,220, according to the five best standard offers currently displayed by Romanian banks.
Dutch ING Bank displays the lowest annual percentage rate (actual interest rate), of 6.8% a year, which has however remained unchanged from mid-September.
But Greek Alpha Bank is coming strong from behind and currently has an annual percentage rate of slightly more than 6.8% a year after cutting 0.6% off loan costs at the end of last month.
On the overall market the annual percentage rate on real estate loans in lei reached 7.3% in August, almost 1.5 percent lower than at the beginning of the year, according to the latest data published by central bank BNR. The average interest rate has remained unchanged against the previous month.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)