Banks to fund mortgage loans from foreclosures

Banks are preparing to offer mortgage loans especially for the acquisition of houses through auctions, in a bid to support property transactions that look set to increase in the coming months due to the start of online foreclosures. The lenders' move highlights their determination to proceed with the auctions.

Banks are poised to make funds available so customers can buy the repossessed homes that the financial institutions will attempt to sell to bidders. The move is seen as a way of reviving interest in the Greek housing market, which has been stagnant for some time.

This special form of loan is also meant to contain the projected slide of prices, due to the increased number of properties to be liquidated by the banks. The creditors have asked for 18,000 foreclosures next year, and notaries estimate that after the first quarter of 2018 some 70 percent of auctions will be conducted online.

The supply of loans for the acquisition of properties through auctions can be in cooperation with notaries, who will be aware of the interest in a particular property based on the number of candidate buyers registered in the online system.

Meanwhile, the banks that closed the accounts of far- right National Front leader Marine Le Pen and her party did not act wrongly, France's central bank said on Tuesday. Le Pen last week accused two banks - Societe Generale and HSBC - of launching a "banking fatwa" to silence her party by closing bank accounts belonging to her and the National Front.

"The closing of the National Front's accounts do not seem to reflect a poor functioning by the banks with regards to their regulatory obligations," the Bank of France said in a statement.