SKB-Bank gave its clients 1,667 mortgage loans in 2006. This is twice the number of loans given in 2005; the figure also exceeds the total number of mortgages provided since the very beginning of the bank’s mortgage lending program (1,569 loans were provided in 2003-2005).

The participatory construction lending (loans to cover the price of an apartment in a house under construction) has been developing even faster. The bank issued 189 such loans in 2006, which exceeds the figures for 2005 by 4.5 times and comes to twice the number of all loans issued throughout the whole existence of the participatory construction-lending program.

‘An increase in the number and volume of mortgage loans as impressive as this is primarily connected with the borrowers’ mental attitude towards using a long-term credit. What is more, getting a mortgage loan has become a very smooth and transparent process over the several years of the bank’s performance, which facilitates turning a complicated banking product into a mass-market service,’ says the bank’s Deputy Mortgage Lending Director Anna Samuilova.

So far, the bank has issued the total of 3, 236 mortgages worth over 2.6 billion RUR, including 280 participatory construction loans worth over 330m RUR, reports the spokesperson for SKB-Bank.