Lisbon, Oct. 2, 2024 (Lusa) - The Bank of Portugal announced on Wednesday that new home loans totalled €1.545 billion in August, the highest figure since March 2022.

The value of loans to buy a house granted in August (€.545 billion) was 20% higher than that granted in July and 47% more than in August 2023.

New credit operations include new contracts (including credit transfers) and renegotiated contracts.

Mortgage loan renegotiations totalled €400 million, down 27% on July and 50% on August 2023.

The average interest rate on new mortgage loans fell from 3.72% in July to 3.53% in August. For renegotiated contracts, the average interest rate fell to 3.93%.

According to the Bank of Portugal, the average interest rate on new home loans in the eurozone as a whole fell to 3.69%, with "Portugal having the sixth lowest average interest rate, below the euro area average".

In August, 80% of new home loans were contracted at a fixed rate (a fixed interest rate for an initial period followed by a variable interest rate). Mixed-rate contracts accounted for 28.3% of total mortgage lending in August, compared to 6.4% in December 2022.

Also in August, new consumer credit totalled €471 million, down 9% on July and up 7.5% on August 2023. The average interest rate rose from 9.57% in July to 9.64% in August Loans for other purposes totalled €198 million, down 21% compared to July and up 36% compared to August last year. The average interest rate fell to 4.8%.

For companies, new credit totalled €1,702 billion in August, down 31% from July and 16% from August last year.

"This decrease was essentially the result of a reduction in new contracts, which fell by €601 million to €1.525 billion," the bank said.

The average interest rate on new business loans increased from 5.27% in July to 5.29% in August.

IM/ADB // ADB.

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