Unfortunately lending a mortgage to foreigners is a fairly new concept in Montenegro which means that very few banks offer this option and it is generally only larger, international banks that will lend. However, with the few banks that do, it can be relatively simple and due to the fact that the sale of luxury developments and properties are on the rise, more and more banks are coming round to the idea of mortgage lending.
With this being said there are some important things you will need to know beforehand:
- Approximately a 2% processing fee is charged by most of the banks that offer a loan
- Loans are usually only 50% of a property’s value or up to 300,000€ - whichever is the lower figure
- Most banks only offer 10 – 20 year mortgage terms
- It is obligatory to have private mortgage insurance
At the minute interest rates are at approximately 5.6%, depending on the bank however over the years this has been known to be as high as 9%. So we recommend to keep in mind that the interest rate might increase again over the next few years.
The terms of mortgages for foreigners differ from bank to bank so we would advise speak to several different banks in advance and if you are still considering taking out a mortgage or loan then the few banks that offer a mortgage to foreigners which we would recommend are:
- Erste Bank Montenegro
- Lovćen Bank
- Prva Bank
- Crnogorska Komercijalna Banka (CKB)