The total stock of housing loans increased by 698 million euros compared to January, reaching 103.5 billion euros at the end of February. Compared to the same period last year, this marks a 4.8% growth, continuing an acceleration trend for 14 consecutive months, the Bank of Portugal reported on Thursday.
“At the end of February, there were 1.96 million mortgage borrowers, an increase of 1,800 from the previous month. This indicator had not increased since June 2022,” the banking supervisor’s statement reads.
Furthermore, the amount of loans for consumption and other purposes rose by 132 million euros from January, totaling 30.5 billion euros. The growth relative to the same period last year was 6.8%, the same as recorded in January.
The purpose of consumption decelerated, with an annual variation rate of 7.0% (compared to 7.3% in January). Meanwhile, loans for other purposes continued to show the highest annual growth since July 2008, at 6.4%.
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