Average mortgage value increased in April

The average value of new mortgages stood at 114,340 euros in April, a 0.7% increase on the interannual rate.

This is according to mortgage statistics for April 2012 released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Mortgage Statistics – April 2012

During the month of April, the average amount of mortgage constitutions recorded in the land registries stood at 114,340 euros, a figure 0.7% higher than the same month the previous year and 1.5% higher than that recorded in March 2012.

In the case of mortgages constituted for dwellings, the average amount was 99,662 euros, 7.1% less than in April 2011, and 4.0% less than that registered in March 2012.

The value of the mortgages constituted on urban properties was 3,760 million euros in April, indicating an interannual decrease of 28.8%. In dwellings, the capital loaned exceeded 2,142 million euros, 36.1% less.

Mortgages by institution

Banks were the institutions that granted the largest number of mortgage loans in April (71.6% of the total), followed by Savings Banks (11.6%) and Other financial institutions (16.8%).

Regarding the capital loaned, Banks granted 72.6% of the total, Savings Banks 11.8%, and Other financial institutions 15.6%.

Mortgage interest rates

The average interest rate in April 2012 was 4.38%, indicating a 8.4% increase in the interannual rate, and 0.2% as compared with March 2012.

By institution, the average interest rate of Savings Bank mortgage loans was 4.53%, and the average term was 23 years. Regarding Banks, the average interest rate for mortgage loans was 4.54%, and the average term was 23 years.

92.8% of the mortgages constituted in April used a variable interest rate, as opposed to the 7.2% that used a fixed rate. Within the variables, the Euribor was the reference interest rate most used in constituting mortgages, specifically in 84.6% of new contracts.

Mortgages with registration changes

In April, the total number of mortgages with changes in their conditions recorded in the land registries stood at 26,494, with an interannual increase of 16.4%. For housing, the number of mortgages with modified conditions increased 17.0%.

Considering the type of modification of the conditions, in April 21,417 novations (or modifications produced within the same financial institution) were produced, for an interannual increase of 14.0%. The number of transactions that changed institutions (subrogations creditor) was 3,387, that is 22.8% more. In turn, 1,690 mortgages changed the holder of the mortgaged property (subrogations debtor), which implied an increase of 39.6%.

Number of mortgages with changes in interest rate conditions

Of the 26,494 mortgages with changes in their conditions recorded in the land registries in April, 36.4% were due to changes in interest rates.

The percentage of mortgages at a fixed interest rate decreased after the change in conditions (from 4.6% to 3.2% of the total), since most of these loans were referenced to a variable interest rate. Within the interest rate structure, the Euribor was the main reference. The lowest average interest before and after the change was that corresponding to Active Reference Rate of Savings Banks.

After the modification of conditions, the average interest of the loans increased 0.91 points in fixed interest rate mortgages, and decreased 0.26 points in variable interest rate mortgages.

You can see the full report here: Mortgage Statistics – April 2012