In a bid to beef up its presence in the mortgage market, Russia's Alfa-Bank has increased its maximum mortgage loan up to $500,000 to buy a flat in the secondary market.
The first installment should be at least 20% of the flat’s value, from $350,000 to $500,000 (or equivalent). The loan is granted for a period from five to 10 years, and the loan interest amounts to 9.7% in US dollars and 11.7% in rubles. Loan payments can be made at any of the bank’s offices throughout Russia.
Iliya Zibarev, head of Alfa-Bank’s mortgage division, said that this decision was induced primarily by the surge in housing prices in and around Moscow.
Alfa-Bank has opened three mortgage-lending centers in Moscow, St Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod this year, and plans to offer mortgage loans in all cities with more than one million residents within the next year. These centers are full-fledged offices where Alfa-Bank’s customers may receive consultation, obtain housing loans, finalize deals, pay initial installments, and so on.