BSP further tightens real estate rules

GETTING loans became more difficult for property firms at the end of June, marking three straight years that credit standards were tightened for the real estate sector.

Results of a new Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) survey of bank loan officers showed banks tightened credit standards for the 12th consecutive quarter. Credit standards are bound to get tighter in the coming three months.

“Respondent banks reported stricter collateral requirements and loan covenants along with wider loan margins, shorter loan maturities and increased use of interest rate floors for commercial real estate loans,” a special section of the BSP Senior Loan Officers Survey said.

“For the next quarter, most of the respondent banks expect to maintain their credit standards for commercial real estate loans,” it said.

The survey results showed most of the respondent banks (86.4 percent) in the second quarter of 2015 indicated unchanged overall credit standards for commercial real estate loans.