The former finance minister said that much less “stigma” was attached to individual countries seeking bailout cash. 

The road to a Cypriote bailout has been chronicled well on these very news pages. Back in February we broke the news of all the banks in Cyprus changing their policy with regards mortgages. With the Bank of Cyprus refusing loans to even the best of clients unless the sellers leave the proceeds of the sale on long term deposits with the bank.

While we are still successful at obtaining finance from Cypriote banks, this is only because of the fact we make sure applicants are fully prepared and that the entire application will be seen favorably by the bank. This starts with the property being realistically priced with title deeds and the buyer asking for no more than 50% of the total sales price.

When the inevitable bailout comes we will be hoping that some of the bailout money finds its way into new affordable mortgage lending for solvent buyers of deeded property.