The long period with interest rates at a minimum in the eurozone led banks to bet on promoting fixed-rate mortgages given the low yield offered by the variables referenced to the Euribor. For this reason, currently more than 60% of new contracts correspond to this type of credit that ensures the same monthly payment for the client. But since the beginning of the year, entities have turned their strategy around, gradually making fixed-rate mortgages more expensive.
So much so that four national banks have doubled the price of this type of loan in the last six months, going from around 1.5% to the current 3%. The purpose that the sector seeks with this increase in prices is more than evident: to push consumers to variable credits to benefit from the rise in the Euribor, the main mortgage reference index.
Institutions are doing the right thing by trying to take advantage of the new context of imminent interest rate hikes to boost their credit business. But for the consumer, the only reality is that the refuge that until now was found in fixed-rate contracts is fading. Many will have no choice but to face the risk of switching to variable loans that will also be more expensive. In fact, if the Euribor, which already advances the tightening of monetary policy in the eurozone, rises to 3%, it will increase the average cost of these credits by 2,988 euros per year.
The banking customer must be aware that after more than a decade at a minimum, mortgages are bound to become more expensive. This will be a severe blow to family budgets and, by extension, to consumption, which is already showing plenty of signs of weakness.
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