By Andrea Hargraves 
Since the beginning of the year, banks have lent 5,883 million euros to buy a house.
Credit to purchase a home continues to grow at a time when the housing market continues to rise. In May, banks granted more than 1.3 billion euros, according to data released by Banco de Portugal yesterday. This was the third consecutive month that new housing loans exceeded €1 billion.
Looking at the backlog since the beginning of the year, new housing loans totaled 5,883 million euros, a figure not very high since 2008, when in the same period it reached 6,603 million euros, according to calculations by JN / Live. Capital.
Savings and interest rate
One reason for this growth is the increase in Portuguese savings. According to Felipe Garcia, an economist at the International Monetary Fund, to JN/DV, “The pandemic has affected families in a very different way. Many of them are now enjoying more advantageous financial conditions than last year, due to savings of various kinds. An overall increase in savings and deposits is showing.” Thus, with so many families having the ability to ‘destroy’ a home and having relatively cheap credit, it turned out to be an understandable decision.”
In addition, at the moment, “interest rates on deposits and other investments in the same range are not attractive, and since there is no cultural appetite for financial investments, real estate ends up as an investment alternative,” the economist added.
Rising prices in the housing market
The increase in new mortgages comes at the same time that prices in the residential property market have continued to rise, albeit at a slower pace. In the first quarter of 2021, the value of homes grew 5.2% compared to 2020, according to the National Institute of Statistics. That is why Felipe Garcia remembers that “even if the number of operations is the same, the amounts awarded will be higher.”