Mortgages on homes grow by 4.9% in Catalonia
On the other hand, in the whole of the State they decrease by 3.5% although the amount lent continues to rise
Barcelona / MadridThe signing of mortgages continues its upward trend in Catalonia. During the month of July, 8,858 mortgages on homes were registered in the country, according to the provisional data updated this Monday by the National Statistics Institute (INE). The figure represents a year-on-year increase of 4.9%, and sets a new high for a month of July since 2010, when 9,547 signatures were formalized. It is also a monthly high in recent years, as so many had not been signed since October 2024 (8,910).
The average amount loaned was also a record. Specifically, the capital financed by the bank for each mortgage rose on average to 196,005 euros in July, 4.76% more than in the same month last year, when the average financing per mortgage stood at 187,091 euros. It should be remembered that this figure does not correspond to the total value of the home, since the part contributed by the buyer with their own resources would still need to be added. In absolute terms, in Catalonia the amount lent rose 9.9% more than the same month last year, to 1.736 billion euros.
These records, furthermore, are framed in a context of tightening monetary policies. In fact, in the month of June, one month before the data, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates by 25 basis points in response to inflationary pressures derived from the conflict in the Middle East; and this September the organization has decided to raise them again by a quarter of a point. Thus, the average interest rate for home mortgages constituted in July across the entire State stood at 3.01%. A year earlier, the figure was at 2.92%. By type, 37.7% of home mortgages were constituted at a variable rate, and 62.3% at a fixed rate.
The number falls in the State
While in Catalonia the number of mortgages increased by 4.9% compared to the previous year, in the country as a whole the figure decreased by 3.5%, to 43,372 signatures. Despite the drop in registered signatures, the average mortgage amount did not stop growing and stood at 180,785 euros, 10.9% more than the same month of the previous year. According to Yogi Thadhani, from the mortgage manager Finteca, this "contradiction" has an explanation: "We are not facing a lack of desire to buy or a closed banking tap, but rather a market suffocated by the lack of supply that pushes prices upwards". Ferran Font, director of studies at the portal Pisos.com, expresses himself in the same line, considering that "financing continues to be available, but the main problem continues to be the price of housing and the lack of supply".
From the banking sector, they are also warily watching housing prices, which do not stop climbing month by month, inflation and the consequent decisions of the European Central Bank (ECB), which this September has resumed the rise in interest rates. The CEO of CaixaBank, Gonzalo Gortázar, has already anticipated that as a result of this, the granting of mortgage credit will put on the brakes and, therefore, growth will fall, at least for this financial institution. "I think we are approaching an affordability problem [for mortgages], and it is also influenced by the fact that current interest rates are higher, including long-term ones. We foresee a slowdown in growth [of loans for housing]. There are people who want them, but they cannot reach current prices", he said during a speech at a financial forum held in Madrid.
Regarding the evolution of interest rates, the CEO of Santander, Hector Grisi, has also spoken out, acknowledging that he is optimistic regarding the ECB's decisions and places interest rates at 2.75% or 3% by the end of the year – they are currently at 2.5%.
The communities with the highest increases in the total number of mortgages constituted on homes were the Balearic Islands, with 8.6% more; Asturias, with 8.1%; Galicia, with 7.1% more, and Castile and León, with 6% more. On the other hand, the communities that detected the highest decrease were Cantabria (-26.9%), Aragon (-20.5%) and La Rioja (-19.7%). The records of Madrid (-5.2%), Andalusia (-9.3%) or the Basque Country (-16%) also fall sharply.