Andalusia Leads in Home Mortgages, Exceeds National Average by Almost Three Points

The home mortgage firm increased by 0.9% last February compared to the same month in 2022, with a total of 7,061 loans, exceeding the national average by almost three points, which stands at negative rates with a decrease of 2%. In addition, the community continues to lead at the national level in absolute terms, according to data released this Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

With the interannual rise in February, the home mortgage firm continues with positive rates in Andalusia for the second consecutive month after registering in December 2022 an interannual decrease of 5.9%. However, in monthly terms, a decline of 10.9% is observed, higher than the 4.1% registered at the national level.

By autonomous communities, the one that registered the greatest number of mortgages constituted on homes in February after Andalusia was Catalonia, with 6,479 and Comunidad de Madrid, with 6,218.

Likewise, the regions in which more capital was lent for the constitution of home mortgages were Comunidad de Madrid (1,278.1 million euros), Catalonia (1,056.4 million) and Andalusia (885.3 million).

Specifically, the capital lent in Andalusia in February for housing operations was 3.7% more than what was lent in the same month last year, and 8.8% less compared to the previous month.

In total, and according to INE data, the Andalusians mortgaged a total of 8,906 farms in February, both rural and urban, worth 1,388.5 million euros. Specifically, 8,654 urban properties were mortgaged for a value of 1,340.7 million and 252 rustic property mortgages were established for 47.8 million euros.

At the national level, the number of mortgages constituted on homes fell by 2% last February compared to the same month in 2022, to a total of 35,900 loans. With the year-on-year decrease in February, the home mortgage firm returns to negative rates after it rose 2.9% year-on-year in January. Prior to that, in December 2022, this indicator posted a year-on-year decline of 8.8% after 21 months of consecutive year-on-year increases.

The average amount of mortgages constituted on homes rose 1.2% year-on-year in the second month of the year, to 143,413 euros, while the capital lent fell 0.9%, to 5,148.5 million euros.

After the rise in interest rates agreed by the central banks to try to contain inflation, the average interest rate for all mortgage loans stood at 3.21% in February, its highest figure since March 2017, with an average term of 23 years.

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

Last February, 34.3% of home mortgages were established at a variable rate, while 65.7% were signed at a fixed rate. The average interest rate at the beginning was 2.70% for variable-rate home mortgages and 2.96% in the case of fixed-rate ones.