The amount of the mortgage rises by 15% in April

huge numbers of mortgages, but higher average amount. According to data supplied by the National Statistics Institute (INE), half the mortgage on residential property stood at 138,958 euros in April, an increase of 15.1% over the same month of 2005 and 0.3% higher than recorded in March.

In contrast, the number of home mortgages fell by 11.4% in interannual rate, reaching 95,357 euros for a total of 13,250 million, a 1.9% increase.

The average amount of total mortgages signed amounted to 154,213 euros in April, 14.5% more than in the same month of previous year. The total number of mortgaged properties stood at 134,423 (11.6% less) for an amount of 20,729 million euros, representing an increase of 1.17%.

Savings banks were the entities that granted a greater number of mortgage loans in April, with 53.3% of the total, followed by banks (3.57%) and other financial institutions (12.4%).

The average interest rate on mortgage loans of savings banks was 3.57% and the average period of 25 years. As for banks, the average rate of their mortgage loans was 3.62% and the average period of 24 years.

INE statistics also indicates that 97.5% of mortgages formed in April using a variable rate, compared to 2.5% fixed rate. In variable rate mortgages, the Euribor is the benchmark interest rate used in the creation of mortgages, particularly in 83.9% of new contracts.

Written by Carlos Lopez on July 5, 2006 with 15 comments
Read more articles on Euribor.