Home payments increased by €185 for loans of €150,000 over 6 months

Mortgage payments made to the bank rose again in March in variable rate contracts, with an expected increase of €185 over the six-month period compared to the last revision, according to the Deco/Deanheiro and Deretus simulation.

Thus, a customer with a 30-year loan of €150,000, indexed with six-month Euribor – the most used in housing loan contracts in Portugal – and with a ‘spread’ (bank profit margin) of 1%, would pay €727.85 euros as of March, which means an increase of €185.57 compared to the last revision in September.

In the case of a loan under the same terms (amount and repayment period), but indexed for three months Euribor, the customer now pays €685.34, €67 more than in December.

These values ​​were calculated taking into account the February Euribor averages of 3.135% for six months and 2.640% for three months.

For 12-month Euribor-indexed loans, the mortgage payment – for a loan subject to the above conditions – will be €763.06 from next month, an increase of €303.33 compared to what it has been paying since March 2022.

In this case, the value was calculated taking into account the 12-month average Euribor in February, which was 3.534%.

The evolution of interest rates on Euribor is closely related to increases or decreases in European Central Bank interest rates.

After several years in negative territory, Euribor has started to rise further since February 4th, after the European Central Bank (ECB) admitted that it may raise key interest rates due to rising inflation in the eurozone.

Since then, the European Central Bank has already raised key interest rates five times, which means an increase in the amount customers pay for loans, primarily for home loans, which has left many families in a difficult position.

In light of the deteriorating cost of home loans, the government has approved a diploma (valid until the end of 2023) that sets out the terms under which banks must offer customers to renegotiate credit in order to avoid defaults. Thousands of customers are already working to renegotiate their loans, according to information from major banks.