
Loans for the purchase of apartments have increased in October, an increase due to new loans in Lek, at a time when loans in Euros have decreased significantly. According to data from the Bank of Albania, the loan for the purchase of real estate in our national currency amounts to 106.8 billion ALL at the end of October, from 105 billion in September.
The increase is 1.7%, or about 20 million euros more compared to September, and comes after a weak performance throughout the year, especially during the summer months, when lending to the real estate market was dominated by loans in euros.
Meanwhile, the loan for apartments in the common European currency has shrunk almost at the same rate. It contracted by 1.8% in October compared to September. Its equivalent expressed in local currency fell from 71.5 billion to 70.2 billion.
With these numbers, October further deepened the trend of shifting credit from euro to lek observed since the fall of this year. The phenomenon is largely attributed to the record increase in the basic interest rate by the European Central Bank, but also to the strong devaluation of the euro in relation to the lek, factors that have also led to the premature closure of a significant volume of loans in the currency of common European, both by businesses and individuals.
But the change in trends is not limited to new loans. A significant number of businesses and individuals, especially during the third quarter of the year, have decided to close loans in the common European currency, converting them to Lek.