The Euribor once again makes mortgages more expensive in April
The evolution of the reference for variable interest rate loans makes the monthly installment more expensive by 55.94 euros with a tendency for further increases in the coming months
BarcelonaThe daily one-year Euribor, the main reference for variable-rate mortgages, closed April with a new increase, reaching 2.848%. The average stood at 2.747%%, compared to 2.143% a year ago, and a new increase that adds to March's. As a consequence of this trend, which places this reference at September 2024 levels, the average mortgage (173,280 euros, according to INE data for February over 25 years) will increase its monthly installment by 55.94 euros or 671.28 annually, to 890.60 euros per month or 10,687.2 euros per year.
The market trend does not only affect those with variable-rate mortgages but also those who plan to take one out to buy an apartment. Some entities have increased their offers due to prudence, according to analysts, and further increases are expected in the coming months, as explained by CaixaBank's CEO, Gonzalo Gortázar, during the presentation of the first-quarter results.
The differential for variable-rate mortgages in April stood at 0.62, compared to 0.61 in March (a year ago it was 0.64). The average interest rate for fixed-rate mortgages, which are currently being massively taken out, stood at 2.901%, compared to 2.883% last month and 2.773 a year ago. And for mixed-rate mortgages, it was 2.56% in the fixed portion, compared to 2.49% the previous month and 2.53% a year ago; and the differential was 0.77 in the variable portion, compared to 0.75 in March and 0.74 a year ago, according to the comparator Kelisto.
Increase that adds to March's
From this platform, they highlight that the increase, which follows March's, "has a trick: and it is that at no time have the maximums reached at the end of last month been exceeded (when it approached 3% on a daily rate). Behind this trick, first, there is a statistical effect, since in the first days of March the value of the index was quite lower, reducing the monthly average. Secondly, there is also a certain relaxation of the international context." The evolution in the war in Iran, situated in a kind of stalemate, has caused this reference to go a few days without strong increases, as happened in March.
Analysts predict that the European Central Bank (ECB) will maintain interest rates for now, given that inflation has not skyrocketed as much as expected. In Spain, for example, the advanced consumer price index (CPI) has stood at 3.2%, two tenths below March, which the Spanish government attributes to measures to alleviate the effects of rising fuel prices. The forecast for the Euribor for this year does not reach 2.5%. CaixaBank places it at 2.23%; the foundation of the former savings banks (Funcas), at 2.24%; and Bankinter, between 2.3% and 2.45%.
