Mortgage company collapses 17% in Galicia

The number of home mortgages in Galicia fell by 17.2% in February compared to the same month in 2022, to 1,007 loans, according to data published this Wednesday State Bureau of Statistics (INE)collected by Europa Press.

This descent represents a drop of 20.8% compared to January of this year. Thus, the borrowed capital amounted to EUR 115 million, 22.6% less than in the previous month and 13.9% less than in February of the previous year.

In Galicia, in the second month of 2023, about 1,414 mortgages on farms will be placed, with a total capital of 184 million euros. Of these, 28 were rustic farms, and 1,386 were urban. In addition to 1,007 homes, money was also requested for 3 plots and 376 urban buildings of another type.

Among other data, the number mortgages on properties canceled in Galicia amounted to 1,955 in February, of which 1,341 are residential. Also, in 96% of cases, the creditor was a bank. There were also 461 changes in the registration of mortgages in the Community.

smaller national decline

At the national level, the number of mortgages on homes fell by 2% last February compared to the same month in 2022 to a total of 35,900 loans, always according to data published by INE.

With the year-over-year decline in February, the mortgage company is returning to negative rates after rising 2.9% year-over-year in January. Before that, in December 2022, this indicator recorded a year-on-year decline of 8.8% after 21 consecutive months of year-on-year growth.

The average amount of mortgages on homes increased by 1.2% on an annual basis in the second month of the year, to 143,413 euros, while borrowed capital fell by 0.9%, to 5,148.5 million euros.

Following interest rate hikes agreed by central banks to try to curb inflation, the average interest rate for all mortgage loans was 3.21% in February, the highest since March 2017, with an average repayment period of 23 years.

In the case of homes, the average interest rate was 2.86%which is its highest value since May 2017, with an average duration of 24 years.

34.3% of mortgages on homes were made last February at a variable rate, doc 65.7% were signed at a fixed rate. The average initial interest rate was 2.70% for variable rate home mortgages and 2.96% for fixed rate mortgages.