Mortgages in Vigo collapse: they fall more than the Spanish average

The real estate market is taking a turn and as shown by the data from the mortgageswhat they fall 36.7% in Vigo and the province in the month of September, when 343 were established compared to 542 in the same month last year. In the accumulated of the year, in the first nine months of 2023, the drop is 19%, with a total of 3,569, according to the National Institute of Statistics.

The data is general in all Spain because the mortgage signing suffered in September biggest drop since January 2021, with a decrease of 29.6% year-on-year, while the average interest continues to rise and reaches 3.26%, highest since the beginning of 2016. According to INE data, in September 31,054 loans were registered in the records for the purchase of living place.

All communities present negative annual variation rates in the number of mortgages, with Murcia (-44,8%), Aragon (-39%) y Galicia (-38,2%) at the head of the descents.

“We cannot talk about a crisis, but about the balance of the different market values, which little by little are adjusting in a context of high rates and housing prices that do not stop falling”explains Laura Martínez, spokesperson for the mortgage advisor iAhorro. In addition, she remembers that “2022 was an exceptional year for the real estate and mortgage market and now we are in stabilization phase”.

As Juan Villén, general director of Idealista mortgages, explains, “the data delve into the trend that we have been observing throughout the year, supported by 3 pillars: on the one hand, the sharp drop in hiring, as a result of the rise in rates and economic uncertainty; second, the strong competition between banks, which together with the inversion of the rate curve, cheaper in the long term than in the short, keeps interest rates relatively stable, even seeing a reduction in fixed rates; and finally, the greater strength of mixed mortgagesto the detriment of fixed ones, as they are cheaper.”

In the same line, the housing transactions are also in decline. In the first and second quarters of the accumulated year, the drop in Vigo city is 17.9% (1,099 sales and purchases) and in the province of Pontevedra the drop is 15% (3,534 sales and sales), according to data from the Ministry of Housing.

Meanwhile, the price continues to rise. In Vigo the increase in the third quarter is another 4%, up to 1,763 euros per square meter on average in the city. In the last five years the increase is around 20%.