An increase in credit rates of 0.55% on average since the start of the year, with a very clear rise in March, banks which are now offering rates at more than 2% over 20 years (1 .80% on average)… The mortgage market has been experiencing an unprecedented situation since 2017.
Faced with numerous credit files withdrawn, because of too low usury rates (rates beyond which a bank is not allowed to lend money) and the debt ratio to be respected (35% maximum), variable rate loans seem to be making a comeback, whereas banks had abandoned them a few years ago due to the drop in fixed rates.
This is what the mortgage broker MeilleurTaux.com has observed since the beginning of July.
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An interest rate that varies according to market rates
Unlike a fixed rate loan, where the interest rate remains the same throughout the duration of the loan, a variable rate loan (or revisable rate) is “likely to vary upwards or downwards , depending on the variations of the index used, generally the Euribor index”, explains the broker Cafpi.
Established by the European Banking Federation (FBE), Euribor is “the average rate charged by European banks to lend money to each other”, indicates the broker Empruntis. The revision of the variable credit rate takes place every year, according to the rates of the financial markets.
It is therefore impossible to know in advance the total cost of credit. The advantage: this allows you to obtain a more advantageous rate than a fixed rate loan.
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A variable loan at 2.20% over 20 years
A variable rate, yes, but capped. “Since the beginning of July, we have seen the return of variable rate loans capped at “1”, and this will accelerate,” remarks Maël Bernier, director of communication at MeilleurTaux.
It is a variable rate loan, but the maximum rate is known over the entire duration of the loan. “This currently makes it possible to obtain a loan at 1.20% over 20 years, she explains, with a rate which cannot exceed 2.20%”, hence the cape “1” (+ 1 point maximum).
A product which, according to her, remains prudent for the borrower, the variable rates not having “entailed major over-indebtedness at the time. It’s worth it when the fixed rates are at 2%,” she points out. Indeed, this can make it possible not to exceed the wear rate, and thus to see your loan file accepted.
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