Slovaks took out mortgages worth a record €644.2 million in February, which amounts to an annual rise of 38 percent, according to the Hospodárske Noviny daily. The borrowing spree came in anticipation of new legislative changes as of March whereby many prospective homebuyers must meet stricter conditions for taking out a loan. "In February 2016, people waited for a drop in interest rates expected in March last year. This time round, they scrambled to take out loans, because they knew that the loan approval conditions would be made harsher as of March 2017," said Marcel Laznia, an analyst with the Slovak Banking Association.
Anca Dragu, Photo: SITA
