Mortgage credit: Average annual interest rate settles at 3.612% in 2023

Want to save on your mortgage? The credit intermediaries from Poupança no Minuto can help you. Contact us to learn more, or understand the relevant data first.

INE releases data related to housing credit in December 2023.

According to data released by INE in comparison to December 2023, cited by Notícias ao Minuto, the implicit interest rate for all mortgage credit contracts stood at 4.593% in December (the highest value since March 2009). Furthermore, this reflected an increase of 6.9 basis points (b.p.) compared to November, which had stood at 4.524%.

Considering the contracts signed in the last three months, the interest rate falls for the second time in a row, from 4.366% in November to 4.342% in December. 

Regarding the average payment, it was set at 400 euros in December, which represents the highest value since January 2009. It is also 4 euros higher than November and 101 euros higher than December 2022, representing a monthly increase of 1.0%.  

To have a clearer understanding: 61% was the percentage represented by the interest portion in an average installment in December. In contrast, in December 2022, this portion corresponded to 33%.

Regarding the contracts signed in the last 3 months, it can be observed that the average installment amount decreased by 4 euros compared to the previous month. It dropped to 651 euros in December, an increase of 21.5% compared to December 2022.

Still facing November, the average capital in debt for all housing loans increased by 159 euros in December, reaching 64,597 euros. 

And the average annual interest rate? For the total amount of housing credit, INE discloses a value of 3.612% (compared to 1.084% from the previous year). This results in an increase of 3,316 euros in average outstanding capital and an increase of 94 euros in average monthly installment.  

Download the housing installment: Is it possible? How?  

Yes, it is possible to lower the home installment even with the increase in interest rates. If you have a variable rate mortgage that has been affected by these increases because it is linked to Euribor rates - know that there is a solution.

Are you not satisfied with this instability and variation of interest rates, resulting in a variation of your monthly payment? Communicate it to your bank. They can offer you new conditions, even changing your interest rate regime to mixed or fixed.

With these options, you will have access, in the first case, to an unchanged rate for an initial period, then switching to a variable rate; and in the second case, to a fixed-rate, unchanged, maintaining the same value until the end of the credit contract.

If your bank does not offer these solutions or you find that they are not beneficial given the values provided, you can try to inquire with other banks to see if there are other more advantageous campaigns for your case. And from there, start a process to transfer the mortgage to another bank.

For this whole process, you can use a credit intermediary, like those at Poupança no Minuto, which simplifies the process: mediating all the paperwork with the banks, explaining everything to you "in plain language," and advising you to choose the proposal that suits you best! And the best part? It's free of charge. Contact us to find out more about what we can do for you.