Mortgage credit: Early repayments nearly double in 2023
With the rise in interest rates, early repayment of housing credit was a popular option for the Portuguese in 2023 to avoid high interest rates. Check out the numbers.
There are several options for you to save on your mortgage, talk to the credit intermediaries at Poupança no Minuto to find out! Or read next the numbers relating to early repayment in 2023.
Early repayments in home loans skyrocketed in 2023.
Bank of Portugal (BdP) releases data showing that early repayments of home loans nearly doubled from 2022 to 2023.
In 2022, a total of 5.5 billion euros was recorded, now rising to 10.1 billion euros in 2023. This corresponds to an increase of 4.6 billion euros.
Total early repayments - that is, contracts completed by debt amortization, credit consolidation in a new contract, and credit transfers to another bank - accounted for 83% of early repayments in 2023.
According to a News ao Minuto publication, the BdP "explains that the increase in interest rates had an impact on the increase in the average monthly installment of housing loans, going from 339 euros in December 2022 to 425 euros in December 2023".
The increase in these processes results from the constant rise in interest rates since 2022, which is only now beginning to slow down. But in December 2023, half of the mortgage financing for permanent own housing had a monthly payment equal to or higher than 355 euros. For more info, visit: housing loan.
Therefore, many Portuguese people have decided to resort to partial or total amortization of their home loans in order to save on the amount to be paid in interest.
Furthermore, "at the end of 2022, a mitigation measure was implemented to counter the impact of the sharp rise in interest rates, which includes the suspension of payment of commissions to banks in case of early repayment, total or partial, of the housing loan. The measure was supposed to end in December 2023, but the temporary suspension of the early repayment fee for variable-rate mortgage loans remains in effect," the news article also states.
Do you have a mortgage hostage to rising interest rates? You don't have to! Review the current conditions of your loan, express your dissatisfaction to your bank and renegotiate the contract. If you remain unsatisfied, know that you can transfer your loan to a different bank, paying off the current debt and setting up a new one with more advantageous conditions for you! To do so, contact the credit intermediaries of Poupança no Minuto and feel supported throughout the entire process, with a close and free service.