Interest rate on mortgages hit 8-year high in November

  • Lusa
  • 4 January 2023

In terms of new loans granted by banks in November, 409 million euros in consumer credit were granted, 3 million euros less than in October.

Banks lent €1.266 billion for home loans in November, up €58 million on October, with the interest rate reaching an eight-year high, according to data from the Bank of Portugal.

The average interest rate on new home loans rose to 3.08% in November (up from 2.86% in October). November’s interest rate is the highest figure since September 2014.

According to the banking regulator and supervisor, in November, 80% of the amount of new loans for permanent owner-occupied housing was at a variable rate, while 7% was at a fixed rate and 13% at a mixed rate.

According to the Bank of Portugal (BdP), “although the average interest rates applied to fixed-rate contracts are higher than those applied to variable-rate contracts, the differential between the two rates narrowed in November (1.3 percentage points in November, after reaching 1.5 in October)”.

At the end of November, 22% of the stock of variable-rate loans was indexed to the 3-month Euribor, 32% to the 6-month Euribor and 43% to the 12-month Euribor.

As for the new loans contracted in November, the 6 month Euribor was once again the most widely used index, accounting for 67% of the amount granted (an increase of seven percentage points in relation to October).

Also according to the BdP, 54% of variable rate mortgage contracts (indexed at 3, 6 and 12 months) in force at the end of November will have the rate revised by February, which will lead to an increase in borrowers’ instalments

In 31% of the contracts, the revision will take place between March and May and the remaining 15% (indexed to the 12-month Euribor) will be updated between June and November.

In terms of new loans granted by banks in November, 409 million euros in consumer credit were granted, 3 million euros less than in October. The average interest rate was 7.98% (down from 8.06% in October).

In loans for other purposes, 182 million euros were granted in November, down seven million euros on October.

New loans to companies granted by banks in November reached €1.669 billion, 219 million more than in October. Of these, 973 million euros were in loans up to one million euros and 696 million in loans over one million euros.

The average interest rate on loans to companies rose again to 4.01% (3.72% in October). The increase was seen both in loans up to one million euros (from 4.04% to 4.27%) and in loans over one million euros (from 3.21% to 3.64%).

As for deposits, in November, new term deposits from individuals reached €4.871 billion, up €145 million on October and the highest value since July 2019. The average interest rate was 0.35% (0.24% in October), the highest since December 2016.

New term deposits from companies, meanwhile, totalled €4.432 billion in November, up €1.199 billion on October and the highest since March 2016. The average interest rate was 0.77% (0.44% in October).