According to the last one monthly report from the Abi, in May 2024 the average rate on new transactions for home purchases fell to 3.61%, down from 3.67% in April and 4.42% in December 2023. This is the sixth month consecutive decline in mortgage rates. Good news for those who are preparing to look for a home and who may find it increasingly difficult to obtain a loan to purchase a home.
Mortgage reference parameters anticipate ECB rates
The decline in market rates observed in recent months anticipated the ECB’s recent decision to reduce monetary policy rates by a quarter of a point, announced on 6 June. The rate Euribor The 3-month rate averaged 3.75% in May, down from 3.81% the previous month and 25 cents from the October 2023 peak. Irc 10-year, often used in mortgages, fell to 2.80% from 2.82% in May, recording a decrease of 69 basis points compared to the maximum value of October 2023.
Rates on new loans
Also average rates on new business loans they decreased, going from 5.30% in April to 5.21% in May, compared to 5.45% last December. Overall, the average rate on total loans remains stable at 4.81%.
In May 2024, i loans to businesses and families recorded a decline of 2.3% compared to the previous year, with the same trend recorded in April. Loans to businesses decreased by 3.4%, while those to families decreased by 1.2%.
Abi, the new interest rates on deposits
As for the interest rates on deposits, in May 2024 the rate on new fixed-term deposits was 3.51%, slightly lower than the 3.59% in April but higher than the euro area average of 3.46%. Since June 2022, when the rate was 0.29%, the increase has been 322 basis points. The yield on new issues of fixed-rate bank bonds in May 2024 was 3.52%, an increase of 221 basis points compared to June 2022.
The average rate on total deposits, including certificates of deposit, savings deposits and checking accounts, remained unchanged at 1.04% in May. The rate on current account deposits alone also remained stable at 0.57%.
The spread between the rates on new loans and those on new funding with households and non-financial companies was 196 basis points in May 2024.
Non-performing loans on the rise in April
As for the net impaired loans, in April 2024 they increased slightly to 31 billion euros from 30.5 billion in December 2023. This increase is considered physiological in a context of economic slowdown and not alarming, considering that compared to the peak of 196.3 billion reached in 2015, NPLs decreased by almost 166 billion. As of April 2024, net impaired loans represent 1.45% of total loans, up slightly from 1.41% in December 2023 and 9.8% in 2015.
