Banks give double less loans Nov 2008 Bulgarian banks have BGN 351.7 million of new corporate and household loans in November as the recent credit boom of 60% growth rates came to an end, showed data of the central bank. The average monthly loan volume shrank to BGN 1.2 billion in the past six months from BGN 1.1-1.4 billion in 2007 as ... Small urban blocks back into vogue amid crisis As the global financial crisis rips on, small residential buildings are coming back into fashion, construction prices are almost halving, home prices are coming down, and off-plan sales are dying out, investors said. Investors who have announced big-scale projects will never start to build, and majo... Non-banking lenders gain ground despite high cost Customers have started in the past two or three months to switch from banks to non-banking consumer lenders in spite of the higher prices, said executive directors of some of the key market players. One of the standouts is BNP Paribas Personal Finance, whose customer base has expanded since banks st... Plovdiv property prices to add 15% in 2008 Plovdiv, Bulgarias second largest city, trailed only the capital Sofia in terms of property transaction numbers in 2007, said Dobromir Ganev, manager of real estate agency Foros. Some 20,000 properties changed hands in Plovdiv last year versus 18,000 for Varna, another of the booming regional proper... Sofia home price up, supply of holiday homes slows The Sofia residential market stayed strong throughout the second half of 2007 and, according to the latest research findings from Colliers International, displayed significant price increases in most locations. The largest increases were in the Ivan Vazov neighborhood with a hike in average asking s...