Yerevan/Mediamax/. Ardshininvestbank and Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) signed a loan agreement today aiming at provision of additional resources for mortgage lending in Armenia.

The bank will draw on funds amounting to USD 8 million during the next 6 months and extend affordable long-term residential mortgage loans, including jumbo loans with a maximum amount of USD 200.000.

“Real estate construction, which once strongly supported the economic growth in Armenia, suffered greatly through the recent crisis. In this regard, it is also the responsibility of the banking sector to stimulate the real estate and mortgage lending markets. This facility with the BSTDB will allow Ardshininvestbank to assertively expand its mortgage loan”, said Mher Grigoryan, Chairman of the Management Board at Ardshininvestbank.

“While the speculative demand for residential real estate has significantly subsided, the fundamentals show strong demand still exists, as the real estate market remains obsolete and densely populated, with often 2 families living in small apartments. Short-term and high interest rate mortgage loans are the main obstacles to expansion of the scope and scale of such lending.  With this project, we are going to improve the situation, solving some of the existing issues, particularly by making mortgage loans more affordable and accessible in Armenia”, noted Chairman of Management Board of Ardshininvestbank Mher Grigoryan.