• Nearly half of the borrowers who chose the product are aged 25-35;

• Since the beginning of the year UniCredit Bulbank is ahead of the banking system in terms of increase in the new mortgage loans;

• The Bank has provided almost half of the new mortgage loans in Bulgaria by September 2010.

More than 40% of all mortgage loans provided by UniCredit Bulbank during the summer months are “First Home”, the statistics of the bank shows. Last month that percentage even increased to nearly half of all mortgage loans provided by the Bank.

The special loan is directed at young couples, who want to buy their first home. In order to support them in that important moment in their life, at the moment ,the bank offers to them preferential conditions:

– 50% discount from the loan service fee;

– Benecifial interest of 6.40% in EUR for the first year;

– 0% fee for repayment ahead of schedule with own resources (valid for the whole period of the loan);

– Free-of-charge „credit certificate”;

– Possibility for grace period of the principal of up to 12 months;

– Reduction of the interest with 1% upon use of Pioneer savings plan for a period of 3-5 years;

– Free-of-charge issue of the most secure debit card V Pay, etc.

The star couple and First Home campaign faces – Maria Ignatova and Dimiter Rachkov reminded the young borrowers of the possibility to receive assistance from the Bank even before choosing property in the form of the so called „credit certificate”. If the submitted data are correct and the condition for self-participation is observed, the customers can be sure even before withdrawing the loan what their budget for the real estate transaction is and what type of property they can look for, respectively. The security provided by the „credit certificate”, which the bank issues absolutely free-of-charge, is a good argument during the negotiation of the price with the sellers.

“First Home is among the products in highest demand and the market shows that it is needed”, said Levon Hampartzoumian, Chief Executive Officer of UniCredit Bulbank. The analyses of the Bank show that UniCredit Bulbank is ahead of the mortgage loans market growth during the summer months, achieving a 7% annual increase as of July. For the sake of comparison, the growth of mortgages in the banking system was 1.7%. The tendency of overwhelming growth is preserved also in August, when BGN 12 mio out of a total of BGN 32 mio mortgage loans are accounted for by UniCredit Bulbank.

UCB’s data show that since the beginning of the year there has been a decrease in the average amount of the withdrawn mortgage loans. In figures: in January the average amount of the withdrawn mortgage loans was TBGN 75 whereby this indicator shows a relative stability during the summer months until August and in September it fell to TBGN 71. For comparison in the beginning of last year the average amount of the mortgage loans provided by the Bank was TBGN 79.

The biggest loans are provided in Sofia, the average amount of the mortgages exceeding BGN 103 thousand. Second is Varna – with around BGN 90 thousand and Plovdiv – slightly above 69 thousand.

According to information of UniCredit Bulbank, the biggest percentage, nearly half of all First Home Borrowers are aged 25 - 35. The next age group to most frequently withdraw mortgage loans is between 35 - 45. Curiously, 7% of the people who withdrew First Home Loan as of February were aged below 25.

A few useful tips on how to choose your first home

To start living together and to purchase one common home is one of the most important events in the life of the young couples.

1. Be well aware of your financial standing

Prepare a list of your monthly income and costs that you allocate for car, food, credit cards, insurances, etc. Do not forget also the bigger costs as annual leave, taxes, etc. This calculation will help you get a clearer idea about the amount which you can afford to spend for mortgage loan repayment in purchasing a home. Consult a bank credit expert.

2. Ask for a Credit Certificate from UniCredit Bulbank

Often people undertake a home purchase without knowing what amount they can afford to take as a bank loan so that their family budget could “survive”. To avoid this mistake, UniCredit Bulbank provides a Credit Certificate which certifies the limit amount, which the young family may get before starting to look for a property. Having a Credit Certificate, the family will be taken much more seriously by the potential sellers, while this can be of great help in negotiating the price.

3. Unacceptable compromises

First Home Buyers often need to choose between the location, floor, home layout, with a big/small or without a balcony, etc. It may happen so that a perfect home is situated on a noisy street or in a residential district, which still does not have any good urban transport. It would be useful if before buying the first home, the young family makes a list of the characteristics which are really important for them. Common practice shows that the location, the size of the home and its layout are among the most important things which should not be compromised. For example – do not buy a home with a big living room, but with only one bedroom if you plan to have children in the near future, because you certainly will need two bedrooms.

4. Do not underestimate the surrounding area

Gather as much information as possible about the district where you will live – what is its urban plan, are there any vacant plots of land and what kind of buildings are envisaged to be built on them, how the real estate prices have been developing. The source of such information may not be only the Municipality, but also the potential neighbours. The more talkative of them will surely be aware of that. Otherwise, it may happen so that after 5 years a main street could go across your backyard or in front of your window overlooking the park, the bedroom from the neighboring block of flats could appear. All these things influence not only your peace of mind, but also the price of your property in time.

For contacts:

UniCredit Bulbank, Identity and Communications Department

Viktoria Blajeva, tel: 02/9264 993, wjlj/ebwjepwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Ekaterina Ancheva, tel: 02/9264 963, flbufsjob/bodifwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch