A fast-paced December consolidates the biggest mortgage year since 2010

BarcelonaThe Catalan mortgage market closed 2025 with an upward surge, which may signal a change in the economic cycle. The number of mortgages granted in December reached 6,464, 25% more than a year earlier and also the highest figure since December 2009. Meanwhile, the price of these mortgages, measured by the average annual interest rate, fell after soaring in November.

This is revealed by the latest data published this Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), which, through the Mortgage Statistics, has confirmed the continued growth of the mortgage market in Catalonia and throughout Spain during 2025. In total, 87,011 mortgages were granted from January to December, an 18% increase.

This trend is explained by the widespread drop in average interest rates, which has made mortgages cheaper, and by a booming housing market, which is also reaching transaction levels not seen in 15 years. All of this may have created a push to buy now rather than wait for housing prices and interest rates to rise further, as is currently projected.

Types and prices

According to INE data, interest rates in Spain have fallen by 2.02%. Fixed-rate mortgages decreased by only 1.02%, while variable-rate mortgages fell by 6.31%, one of the largest drops of the year. This widespread reduction has been accompanied by a further increase in mortgage values ​​in Catalonia and throughout Spain. The average mortgage value in Catalonia was €194,634, the highest figure ever recorded – with the exception of the €200,000 reached in May 2022. This peak is explained by the high market prices for sales, which have been rising for years, and also by the accumulated inflation of the last decade, which has moved prices away from the peak of the 2008 housing bubble. In Spain as a whole, the average mortgage value was €172,535 in December.

Despite the interest rate cut in December, mortgage prices are expected to continue rising due to the increase in interest rates, which eventually affect the mortgage market. In fact, the average mortgage rate in Europe is around 3%, a figure still far from Spain's 2.91%.

Crisis figures, but without a bubble

Since housing prices have skyrocketed and the mortgage market has recovered to the levels seen in the years following the 2008 financial crisis, the question of whether this signals another potential bubble has been a recurring one. However, the consensus among all stakeholders—major economic institutions, government agencies, and experts—is that while a price bubble exists—with prices rising faster than other key economic indicators such as inflation and wages—there is no debt, which is what had disastrous consequences in 2008.