Mortgage credit: Relief in the "stress" test now in effect.
The stress test applied by banks to clients' incomes applying for mortgage credit has been minimized, so that more Portuguese people can have their credit proposals approved. The measure imposed by the Bank of Portugal is now in force. Understand how it will work if you want to apply for a mortgage credit next year.
Are you ready to apply for your mortgage? Count on the help of the credit intermediaries from Poupança no Minuto to clarify your doubts and move forward with the process. But first, find out what relief is applied to the stress test.
Bank of Portugal makes it easier to access mortgage credit
The relief of the "stress test" in mortgage credit - Debt Service-to-Income (DSTI) - imposed by the Bank of Portugal is already in effect, aiming to facilitate access to this financing.
This test is carried out by banks on customers, in order to analyze their financial capacity to take out credit.
The test was imposed in a simulation of a 3% interest rate increase (the client should not have an effort rate higher than 50% with the test applied to the monthly payment), and is now carried out in a simulation of a 1.5% increase for credits with a duration of more than 10 years. For credits up to five years, the interest rate increase is simulated at 0.5%, and for credits up to 10 years, it is simulated at 1%.
For example, the 12-month Euribor rate at 4% currently implied that the simulated interest rate would be at 7%, which implies a great effort and was making access to this loan or its transfer difficult.
According to a publication from Notícias ao Minuto, the Portuguese Banking Association (APB) considers that this relief will facilitate "access to credit" for families with presumably sustainable conditions, as it alleviates a constraint whose justification has been diminishing, given the rise in interest rates.
For Deco, specialist Nuno Rico states that he expects the measure to "allow for greater access to credit, especially in the case of families who, despite meeting the recommended effort rates, saw their financing denied due to the high interest rates (above 7%) considered in the test," as reported on the information website.
However, ease differs from facilitism.
According to the publication of Notícias ao Minuto, the Deco economist also states that "the new rule also means an increase in the maximum amount of loans that banks can grant for the purchase of a house", which will be "seen both in new contracts and in terms of credit transfers to other institutions".
However, the specialist makes it clear that, despite this relief in the test, banks should not allow "facilitism in terms of assessing the consumer's financial capacity," according to the clarification in Notícias ao Minuto.
Therefore, even though accessing mortgage credit becomes easier, the limit of the effort rate remains the same. The effort rate cannot exceed 50%, meaning a household cannot use more than half of its income on credit installments.
Mário Centeno also emphasizes that "this change does not intend to subject, allow or recommend that families make a higher level of effort than was recommended before this change," still according to Notícias ao Minuto.
Want to access a home loan? Contact an intermediary.
With this new measure from the Bank of Portugal, the likelihood of approval for a mortgage loan from the bank is higher. This is because, through the "stress test", household incomes do not need to be as high now.
So, if contracting a home loan is one of your goals for 2024, and you now see the possibility more open, why not ask for help?
The credit intermediaries from Poupança no Minuto offer free services and an agent to guide you throughout the entire process. In addition to handling all the bureaucracy, they are responsible for communicating with the banks and finding the best credit proposal for you.
Contact us to learn more information, start the process, and enter the next year with the right savings!