Number of mortgage applications 'highest in over a decade'

NEW mortgage applications soared by 57.7% in the last year, showing a returning keenness among would-be homebuyers – and the highest figure in more than a decade.

According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), the number of mortgages applied for and accepted in September, the last full month for which figures are available, dramatically exceeded those for the same month in 2020.

With eight home purchase loans in September 2021 for every five in that month last year, the total nationwide of 42,547 is the most ever seen since March 2011, INE data show.

The average mortgage was for €143,831, the highest figure since February 2020 when the pandemic was still thought to be something happening elsewhere in the world – representing a total sum loaned by Spain's banks of just under €6.2 billion.

Two in three were fixed-rate mortgages – 65.7% of the total – continuing a trend which, by September this year, was in its fifth month.

Since the end of April, over 60% of home loans have been fixed-rate versions, possibly over uncertainty as to whether the historic lows in Eurozone interest will continue.

Despite warnings for many years from economists about how the 'Euribor honeymoon' is unlikely to last, the rate has been in negative figures since February 2016 and has tended to drop rather than rise – a deliberate strategy on the part of the European Central Bank (BCE) to try to aid recovery in the common currency zone by making finance cheaper.

Initially, it was aimed at raising inflation, but even though retail price indices across the continent have soared recently due to fuel costs, transport shortages and other supply-chain issues, the BCE said just weeks ago that it did not intend to raise the Euribor while countries still faced economic insecurity due to the pandemic.

Spanish mortgages are linked to this Eurozone interest rate, but monthly repayments are reviewed and adjusted annually or, in some cases, every six months, so a rate hike does not mean a sudden unforeseen increase in household bills – where the Euribor shows signs of starting to rise, homeowners still have up to a year to plan and to decide whether it is worth applying a fixed rate.

As at September, the average interest rate on a mortgage for buying a home in Spain was 2.47% - variable-rate loans came in at typically 2.19%, or 2.96 percentage points above the Euribor, whilst fixed-rate loans averaged around 2.65%, as these are typically more expensive.

The average Euribor rate for September was -0.492%, meaning a very sharp rise would be needed to make a real difference to monthly variable-rate mortgage repayments or to bring Eurozone interest back into positive figures after nearly six years below zero.