The average amount of loans to finance housing exceeds 149,000 euros with a new increase in the variable interest rate
The Spanish mortgage market continues to be blinded by the interest rate hikes that the European Central Bank (ECB) has implemented since July and by the increase in the Euribor, which has now clearly exceeded 3%. The number of mortgages issued on homes increased by 13.5% last October compared to the same month in 2021, to a total of 41,022 loans, the highest figure in a month of October since 2009, at the start of the previous major recession, when more than 52,000 mortgages were signed, according to data released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
With October’s year-over-year increase more than nine points higher than September’s, the residential mortgage firm has seen 20 months of consecutive year-over-year increases.
In addition, the average amount of mortgages on residential property increased by 8.4% year-on-year to EUR 149,730 in the tenth month of the year, while the amount of lent increased by 23% to EUR 6,142.2 million.
In October, the average interest rate on all mortgage loans was 2.66%, with an average term of 23 years. The average interest rate for residential properties was 2.50%, lower than the 2.54% of a year earlier, with an average term of 24 years.
The rise in interest rates is starting to cause a slow change in the type of mortgages being signed by buyers. Faced with the trend of recent years to take out a mortgage with a fixed interest rate, the variables are gaining ground again. Last October, 33.2% of residential mortgages were at floating rates, while 66.8% were at fixed rates, the lowest rate since September 2021. The average interest rate for mortgages was 2.03% at the start with a variable interest rate and 2.74% in the case of mortgages with a fixed interest rate.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
