A summary of the Latest Euribor and Spanish mortgage news

Euribor (12 months), the interest rate typically used to set mortgage repayments in Spain, fell to 0.545pc in March, a percentage change of -8.2pc on the previous month (illustrated by the chart above), and a new historic low.

On an annualised basis, Euribor was 62pc lower than a year ago, meaning lower monthly repayments for borrowers with variable-rate mortgages, who will typically save more than €1,000 a year as a result.

Low base rates don’t necessarily mean cheaper rates for new borrowers. Lenders are steadily increasing the spread, or margin they charge, so new borrowers may find themselves paying mortgage rates of 3pc or more. That said, they can be considered the lucky ones to be able to borrow at all.

Mortgage lending collapse since crisis began

New figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) illustrate how badly Spanish mortgage lending has been hit by the economic crisis and credit crunch in Spain. There were just 274,715 new mortgage approvals last year, the lowest level since the crisis began, and down 67pc since 2008.