The number of mortgages taken out on dwellings fell by 18.1% in March compared to the same month in 2023, to 29,653 loans, with an average interest rate higher than that of the previous month, according to data released on Monday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Specifically, the average interest rate for mortgages on housing reached 3.41% in March, compared to 3.33% in February. With the exception of January this year, when it stood at 3.46%, March was the highest interest rate since December 2014. The average term of operations is 23 years. And the average amount of transactions was €137,169, representing a year-on-year fall of 3.5%.
Of all residential mortgages, 47.4% were at a variable rate and 52.6% at a fixed rate.
With the year-on-year decline in March, the number of residential mortgages signed returns to negative rates after having risen by 3.8% in February after a year of declines.
