The beginning of October has brought unwelcome news for families with mortgage contracts linked to the three-month Euribor rate. For the first time in almost two years, those with loans indexed at this rate and scheduled for revision in October will see an increase in their mortgage payment.
Simulations by DECO Proteste/Contas e Direitos, based on a scenario of a 150,000 euro loan over 30 years with a 1% commercial profit margin (‘spread’), indicate that for a loan indexed to the three-month Euribor, the mortgage payment will now be 634.59 euros, an increase from the 631.11 euros at the last revision in July, representing an increase of 3.48 euros.
Not all news is bad
Meanwhile, a customer with a loan under the same conditions but based on the six-month Euribor will see their payment decrease by 23.28 euros to 640.69 euros, based on the last revision values in April.
On the other hand, considering an average scenario of the 12-month Euribor at 2.102%, the payment will be 646.41 euros, down from 710.60 euros in the same period last year, reflecting a decrease of 64.19 euros.
On September 11, the European Central Bank (ECB) maintained its key interest rates, including the deposit rate at 2.00%, considered neutral for the eurozone, as it neither stimulates nor hinders economic growth.
Thus, the ECB Governing Council decided to keep the deposit facility rate at 2.00%, the main refinancing operations interest rate at 2.15%, and the marginal lending facility rate at 2.40%.
Interest rate on new housing loans falls to 2.86%
The average interest rate on new housing loan operations, including renegotiations, decreased in August for the seventh consecutive month, to 2.86%, the lowest value since November 2022, announced the Bank of Portugal.
This decline from the rate of 2.89% in July marks the 21st decrease over 22 consecutive months (with the exception of January 2025, where it rose by 0.03 percentage points), and between January and August this year, the rate fell from 3.23% to 2.86%.
In consumer loans, the average interest rate on new operations reached 8.77% in August, a reduction of 0.06 percentage points compared to July, while the average interest rate for loans for other purposes remained at 3.53%.
According to the Bank of Portugal, in August, new operations of loans to individuals (including new contracts and renegotiated contracts) totaled 2.972 billion euros, 497 million less than in July.
New loan contracts to individuals reached 2.551 billion euros, 485 million less than in July, with the decrease being “across all purposes, but more pronounced in housing loans.”
New contracts totaled 1.767 billion euros for housing (-344 million less than in July), 555 million euros for consumption (-78 million), and 230 million euros for other purposes (-63 million).
