3,520 million euros was lent for home loans
The number of new mortgages taken on homes in August was 28,755, which is 6.8% more than in August 2017. The average amount borrowed was 122,424 euros, representing an increase of 9.8%, according to figures from the INE.
The total value of mortgages taken on all urban properties was a massive 5,440 million euros, 11% more than in the same month last year. For home loans, the total borrowed was 3,520 million, an annual increase of 17.3%.
Interest Rates
For all new mortgages taken in August, the average interest rate at the start of the loan term was 2.56%, 1.7% lower than last August. 61.9% of new mortgages were taken on a variable interest rate, with the other 38.1% being on a fixed rate.
The average interest rate at the start for variable rate mortgages was 2.3%, 5.6% lower than last August. For fixed rate loans, the average starting rate was 3.12%, 4.8% higher than last year. The new loans taken in August had an average term of 22 years.
Looking only at loans for homes, the average starting interest rate was 2.62% (4.3% lower than last August). The average loan term was 24 years.
59.8% of new home loans began on a variable interest rate, and 40.2% on a fixed rate. This is an increase in fixed rate loans of 3.9% on the annual variation.
The average interest rate at the start of the variable rate housing loans was 2.43%, a decrease of 5.5%, and was 2.99% for fixed rate loans, 3.1% lower than last year.
Autonomous Communities
The communities with the largest number of housing mortgages taken in August were Andalucía (5,984), Madrid (5,000), and Cataluña (4,432).
The highest annual variation rates were seen in Extremadura (31.0%), the Canary Islands (19.6%) and Cantabria (16.4%).
The communities with the highest monthly variation rates in the number of mortgages taken on housing are Extremadura (32.2%), the Canary Islands (25.8%) and Navarra (25.2%).
On the other hand, La Rioja (-32.2%), Cataluña (-13.4%) and Madrid (-12.5%) witnessed the largest negative monthly variation rates.
In terms of capital, the communities which lent the most for the constitution of new mortgages on housing are Madrid (879.8 million euros), Andalusia (645.3 million) and Catalonia (593.0 million).
