The latest Spanish mortgage and Euribor news for September 2013.
Euribor (12 months) hardly changed last month, going from 0.542pc in August to 0.543pc in September, an insignificant monthly increase, but down 26.6pc in 12 months.
As a result of the decline in 12-month Euribor, a typical 25-year / €100,000 Spanish mortgage will see monthly payments fall by around €9 or €108 per year.
As you can see from the chart above, which shows the annualised change, Euribor has clearly bottomed out and is back on the rise. The interest rates cycle has turned.
Spanish Mortgage lending plunges another 43pc in July
New mortgage approvals fell 42.7pc in July compared to the same month last year, to 13,777, down 2pc in a month, and the lowest level since the National Institute of Statistics started publishing this data, based on figures from the Property Register. New mortgage lending has now fallen for 39 months on the trot.
The average interest rate was 4.4pc, up 4pc on the same time last year. So new borrowers today are paying a higher rate than borrowers last year, despite the decline in Euribor base rates.
Fewer, more expensive mortgages, do not bode well for the housing market. It helps explain why only 34pc of home buyers in 2012 used a mortgage, down from 60pc in 2007, according to data from the Euroval appraisal company. Developer mortgages and construction mortgages have almost vanished.