The latest data from the banking supervisor reveals a decrease in the average interest rate on new mortgage loans in Portugal, which fell from 3.18% in February to 3.11% in March. This marks the 16th reduction in the last 17 months, with January being the only exception, when the rate rose by 0.03 percentage points.
The information released by Banco de Portugal indicates a consistent downward trend in interest rates for new mortgage operations since the third quarter of 2023.
Regarding negotiation types, the average interest rate on new mortgage contracts decreased by 0.05 percentage points, while renegotiated contracts saw a more significant drop of 0.10 percentage points, bringing the rates to 3.05% and 3.39%, respectively.
The average monthly installment on the existing stock of housing loans decreased by one euro from February, to 409 euros, and by 14 euros compared to the same month last year, reaching its lowest level since September 2023.
Additional data from Banco de Portugal shows that the 12-month Euribor was the most utilized in new mortgage operations in March for the 21st consecutive month, accounting for 46.02% of operations, followed by the six-month Euribor at 45.34% and the three-month at 5.99%.
For the total stock of housing loans, the six-month Euribor represented 37.65%, the 12-month Euribor 32.39%, and the three-month Euribor 25.67%.
A fixed rate was chosen for 6.1% of new loans for permanent housing, a variable rate for 22.7%, while the mixed rate remained the most popular, chosen in 71.2% of cases.
The fixed rate carried the highest interest among new operations at 3.54%, followed by the variable rate at 3.32%, with the mixed option holding an interest rate of 2.93%.
As of March, Portugal ranks as the eighth country in the euro area with the lowest average interest rate for new mortgage operations, remaining below the area’s average of 3.31%.
