The bank has started the exercise by executing several changes in its offer, especially on the mortgage.
Entities in the sector have reduced the interest rates on housing loans due to the fall in the Euribor, which has plummeted by almost 11% since September despite the fact that the European Central Bank (ECB) has kept official rates at 4.5%maximums since 2001.
The drop in the main index used by banks to determine mortgage rates responds to the first reduction in official rates planned by the ECB. Christine Lagarde, president of the monetary institution, opened the door for the first decrease in interest rates to occur in June, when the ECB has “more data.”
The continental body does not want to execute any movement without having clear evidence that the CPI is falling back to the 2% target. Despite this, both the analysis houses and the ECB’s own directors assume that the first reduction in rates will occur throughout 2024, almost certainly in the middle of the year.
The potential reduction in interest rates has been felt on the Euribor, which is usually one step ahead of the decisions of the monetary regulator. The continued decline recorded since September 2023 is a symptom that the first reduction in official rates is about to fall.
Banks make their mortgages cheaper
The downward movement of the Euribor has a key influence on the mortgage business. And the Spanish banks have already adjusted their offer for home loans due to the drop in the Euribor. Given this situation, different experts consulted by this newspaper advance a possible “trade war”» among banks by attracting clients, especially mortgaged clients.
Ricard Garriga, CEO of Trioteca, assures that the banks “are not going to gain as much from the fall of the Euribor.” The manager believes that financial institutions have no choice but to adapt their offer, especially to maintain the rising profits they have registered in the last two years.
Garriga emphasizes that banks are focused on “keeping customers”, but they cannot neglect attracting new mortgage holders. Hence “They have to make a better product or lower the price of mortgages«.
José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, president of Caixabank, and María Dolores Dancausa, CEO of Bankinter. WALKING
Abanca, Ibercaja, Sabadell, Caixabank… all lower rates
Entities in the sector understand that they must adjust their offers to be able to compete in a market that has weight in the Spanish banking business.
Firms such as Ibercaja, Abanca or ING have cheaper in the first two weeks of March some fixed rate mortgage offers. The entity of Dutch origin has reduced its 25-year Orange Mortgage from 3.75% to 3.70%; The Aragonese bank has reduced its fixed-term mortgages by up to 40 basis points to 2.99%; Abanca has reduced its three mortgages to fixed rates with different terms to 2.90%.
In February, “peak moment” in mortgage reductionsAccording to the experts of the comparator Kelisto, Caixabank, Unicaja, Sabadell, EVO Banco and MyInvestor were some of the entities that made their fixed-term mortgage loans cheaper.
The bank led by César González-Bueno reduced its Fixed Term Bonus Mortgage by more than 17%, to 2.80%; Along the same lines, Caixabank reduced the interest on its Casa Fácil loans, which have different terms. The bank lowered these loans by more than 7%, down to 3.30% (the most expensive, with a term of 30 years).
An “ideal” time to acquire a mortgage
Pedro Ruíz, Finance expert in the comparator, indicates that February was a key month in the reduction of fixed-rate housing loans due to the «expectation that the ECB could lower rates in April«.
The market estimates that the first reduction in interest rates in the euro zone will arrive in June, which, according to the comparator’s expert, could motivate banks to reduce home loans more than they have done.
Banks launch new offers, each more competitive, to maintain the production of new mortgages, which, a priori, seems difficult due to the current economic situation. The Finance expert at Kelisto explains that mortgage discounts «They make perfect sense if banks want to start a commercial offensive«.
Garriga considers that 2024 is an “ideal” year for purchasing a home due to the supply that exists and because fixed-rate mortgages “are good.” The bank has already gotten to work to revitalize the mortgage business.
2024-03-13 04:20:26
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