The bank no longer says “yes”.
It says “this far”.
Credit in Bulgaria is cheaper than ever, yet people stumble earlier and earlier. They stumble not over the monthly payment but at the entrance. Above every housing loan stand three caps set by the Bulgarian National Bank (БНБ), and they decide how much you will be lent at all, before anyone has looked at how much you can pay.
Three numbers decide everything.
By a decision of its Governing Council of 11 September 2024, the Bulgarian National Bank introduced requirements for the credit standards on newly granted housing loans. They have been in force since 1 October 2024 and apply both when a loan is granted and when an existing loan is renegotiated.
Checked as of August 2026: these levels have not been touched since. The BNB’s only macroprudential decisions in 2026 concern the countercyclical capital buffer, set at 2.25% for the second and third quarters of 2027. It applies to the banks’ capital, not to the borrower’s pocket, and is easily mistaken for a change to the caps. There has been no change.
The 5% valve
The rules are not absolute. A bank may grant a loan outside the caps, but the total volume of such loans in one quarter may not exceed 5% of the volume of newly granted housing loans in the previous quarter. So exceptions exist, but they are rationed, and they go to the files that look best. Not to everyone who asks.
Three months, and the market rearranged itself.
The fourth quarter of 2024 is the first entirely under the new rules, and the BNB published what happened. There is one number you can see from a distance.
Before the measure, one loan in four was of a kind that would not pass today. The weighted average DSTI-O falls from 39.1% to 36.8%. Loans granted outside the requirements are 421 out of 10,140, which is 4.2%, just under the valve’s ceiling.
The other two caps barely move anything: the average LTV-O stays around 74%, and the average maturity around 25.2 years. Both values were below the cap even before the rule.
The caps on term and on financing barely bit, because the market was not there. The income cap bit, and sharply. The people who hit the caps are exactly those with the least room, meaning the people counting on the loan to cover the gap they do not have.
DSTI is not the payment against your salary.
This is the most often repeated mistake when preparing for a loan. The ratio measures all current payments on credit products against income, not just the future mortgage payment. The calculation includes:
An unused credit card limit also counts. The card may sit at a zero balance for years and still lower the maximum size of the mortgage, because the limit is available credit. The buyer only sees a smaller approved amount and rarely learns the reason.
From this follows something that cannot be solved on the day of application. Closing an unused card, finishing a lease or clearing store credit changes the ratio, but it takes months, not weeks. Preparing for a mortgage starts long before the property viewing.
85% is not of the price.
The loan amount is set against the market valuation by a licensed valuer that the bank accepts, not against the sum agreed with the seller. The bank’s valuation is usually the lower of the two. The difference is not shared with anyone: the buyer covers it, in cash, before the notary.
The price of the home has not changed. Only the valuation has changed, by €12,000, while the buyer’s calculation has changed by €10,200, payable in cash and usually within a few weeks.
A reduced loan, not enough for the purchase. A second, more expensive loan, which in turn weighs on DSTI. Renegotiating the price with a seller who has no reason to give way. Or cancelling the deal and losing the deposit. This is where the mistake is paid for in money, not in nerves.
How much of it is your own money.
In the second quarter of 2026, the average price of a home in Varna passed €2,000 per sq m, with growth of around 4% quarter on quarter. The real range in the city is wide, roughly €1,400 to €2,500 per sq m depending on the neighbourhood and the building, but for the calculation we will use the average.
The average gross salary in Varna province is €1,304 a month for the first quarter of 2026, second in the country after Sofia. So €18,000 is 13.8 gross Varna salaries, just to reach the bank’s door. The tax, the notary fee and registration come on top.
Almost every second deal goes through a bank
According to the Registry Agency (Агенция по вписванията), in the first quarter of 2026 there were 2,433 property deals in Varna and 1,117 contractual mortgages were registered.
The two numbers move in different directions: deals fall by 21.5% year on year, while registered mortgages grow by 5.7%. The market is shrinking, while the share of buyers who depend on a bank is growing. That is exactly why a rule written in Sofia in 2024 is felt in a specific Varna deal in 2026.
The background is the same nationally. Housing loans in the country reach €18.68 billion as of June 2026, growth of 26.4% year on year. The caps did not stop lending. They rearranged it.
The three numbers are calculated at the same time.
Valuation, DSTI and own funds are not three separate checks but one calculation with three variables. Lowering one moves the other two. And the third number, the valuation, is one the buyer does not control and learns last, usually after the deposit has already been paid.
The 5% valve is not a safety net for the average case. It goes to the best-prepared files, and a “prepared file” means a clean credit history, documented income and a property the bank is happy to value. All of this is built before the deal, not during it.
The BNB caps are not news from 2024. They are the standing condition of the market today. The interest rate is the lowest in history, and that is exactly why it is no longer the brake. The brake is the amount that has to be available before the deposit, and it is either calculated in advance or paid for with a lost deposit.
A note on accuracy: the LTV-O and DSTI-O ratios refer to newly granted housing loans secured on residential property. The data on the effect come from the BNB report for the fourth quarter of 2024, the first entirely under the rules. Prices and salaries are published averages, not an offer: the specific valuation of a specific property is made by a licensed valuer engaged by the bank.
The three questions we hear most often.
Is the 85% cap measured against the price or against the valuation?
+Against the valuation. The loan amount is set against the market valuation by a licensed valuer that the bank accepts, not against the price agreed with the seller, and the bank’s valuation is usually the lower of the two. For a home at €120,000 with a valuation 10% below the price, the loan drops from €102,000 to €91,800, and own funds jump from €18,000 to €28,200. The difference of €10,200 is paid in cash.
What counts towards DSTI besides the mortgage payment?
+All current payments on credit products count: consumer loans, leasing, store credit, and the minimum payments on credit cards and overdrafts. Some banks include rent as well. An unused credit card limit can also lower the maximum size of the mortgage, without the buyer finding out the reason.
Can a bank grant a loan outside the BNB caps?
+It can, but the quantity is rationed. The total volume of loans granted outside the requirements may not exceed 5% of the volume of newly granted housing loans for the previous quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2024, 421 loans out of 10,140 were outside the requirements, which is 4.2%. These exceptions go to the best-prepared files, not to everyone.
Wondering how much you will be lent?
Before the deposit, three things are calculated at once: valuation, DSTI and own funds. We know bank valuations by neighbourhood in Varna and which ratio weighs where. A mistake here does not cost nerves, it costs a deposit.
Comments
No comments yet, be the first.