In November, the volume of residential mortgages dropped by 19.1% year over year, totaling 32,645 loans. This marked the lowest November tally since 2020, and the average interest rate eased slightly from October as reported by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). The rate stood at 3.27% in November, down from 3.32% in October, yet it remained near the high end of trends seen since late 2015.
Yearly comparisons show a decline in November. Mortgage lenders have offered negative real returns for several months, but the November drop was less sharp than October, which fell by 22.3%. In the penultimate month of the prior year, the average loan amount granted for housing decreased by 0.5% year over year to 145,894 euros, while total loaned capital fell by 19.5% to just under 4.763 billion euros.
After the European Central Bank (ECB) policy rate actions aimed at curbing inflation and influencing Euribor movements, the average mortgage rate remained at 3.27% with an average term of 24 years. Compared with a year earlier, the mortgage rate rose by 0.7 percentage points. This marked the eighth straight month above 3%, though it was also the first time it moderated the prior year. Since December 2022, the rate has trended upward, reaching a peak not seen in eight years, with October 2023 recording 3.32%.
In November, 46.8% of new residential mortgages carried a variable rate, the highest share since January 2021, while 53.2% were issued with fixed rates. The initial average rate was 3.03% for variable-rate loans and 3.53% for fixed-rate loans. Month-to-month changes showed a 2.3% increase in the number of mortgages and a 6.1% rise in declared loan capital compared with October of the same year.
Across the first 11 months of 2023, housing loans fell 17.8%, loan capital declined 19.4%, and the average loan amount decreased by 2%.
Andalusia and Madrid lead in mortgage activity
Among autonomous communities, the regions recording the most residential mortgages in November 2023 were Andalusia with 6,906 loans, Madrid with 6,364, and Catalonia with 5,140. The capital lent for new housing mortgages followed a similar pattern, with Madrid at 1,303 million euros, Andalusia at 918.2 million, and Catalonia at 816.2 million.
Fifteen fewer communities signed mortgages in November compared with 2022. Notable declines occurred in La Rioja (-53.4%), Extremadura (-45.4%), the Balearic Islands (-39.4%), and the Canary Islands (-38.2%). Increases appeared in Castilla-La Mancha (+40.9%) and Cantabria (+8%).
Overall mortgage activity declines in total
The statistical institute reported that mortgages on rural and urban properties (including homes) totaled 43,009 loans in November 2023, down 18.4% from November 2022. While loans in the capital cities fell by 15.8% to 6.945 billion euros, the average mortgage amount across all properties rose by 3.2% to 161,484 euros.
Loans with changed terms are rising
In November, the terms of 11,663 mortgages were modified, an increase of 8.7% from the same month in the previous year. Of these changes, 9,202 were renewals or modifications within the same financial institution, up 4.1% year over year. The number of transfers of the mortgage to another creditor reached 1,812, up 22.8% from November 2022, while 649 mortgages changed the ownership of the property through subrogation to the debtor, 59.5% more than a year earlier. Among the 11,663 modified mortgages, 38.9% were due to changes in interest rates.