Despite the fact that the Euribor, the index to which most variable-rate mortgages are referenced, but which also serves as a guide to establish the prices of fixed ones, rose again in April, the banks stopped the increase in prices the price of new mortgages. The index closed the fourth month of the year at 3.757%, while the TEDR interest rate, which does not include commission expenses or insurance premiums, stood at 3.48%. This figure is seven hundredths less than the rate applied in March, when it stood at 3.55%, according to data released this morning by the Bank of Spain.
However, the rate is significantly higher than what was obtained just a year ago. Specifically, in April 2022, banks granted mortgages at an average rate of 1.55%; that is, 200 basis points less than the operations closed during its counterpart in 2023. It gives that they could respond to the objective of reactivating operations, which were beginning to be affected by the increase in mortgage prices and also by the sharp rise in prices. real estate prices.
This decision, in fact, has had an effect on imports in the new concessions. After a few months of falling operations in the amount of new housing credit operations precisely due to the rise in the Euribor and the uncertainty about the future of the economy due to inflation, the amount of new ones grew in April for the second month consecutive, up to 6,231 million euros. It should be noted that this figure is higher than that registered a year earlier, when the volume of new balances stood at 5,771 million euros, which implies growth of 8%. It could also have been encouraged by the renegotiations, which are increasing as the rise in the Euribor is being transferred to mortgage payments.
