Mortgages in the European Union
Mortgage rates at their lowest
Most of the countries of the European Union offer historically low mortgage rates, which continue to boost the residential market. The average loan rate in the European Union (EU) is indeed 2.53%, according to the European Mortgage Federation (EMF). The trend is clearly downward for rates in almost all markets, except for Belgium. This decline must be tempered by the wide variety of conditions from one country to another. The rate of loans can be variable or fixed with schedules usually between 10 and 20 years. The typical loan/value ratio for a property in Europe is around 80/20%
According to the EMF, credit volumes increased by 3.6% in the 28 countries of the EU in 2015. The markets in Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden now exceed the residential loans peak of 2007 — just before the financial crisis of 2008. The volume of borrowing in many countries is, however, still more than 20% below the pre-crisis peak (in Portugal for example). The largest increase in the number of loans in 2015 was observed in France with a significant increase of 26.4% over the sliding year.
Most of the countries of the European Union offer historically low mortgage rates, which continue to boost the residential market. The average loan rate in the European Union (EU) is indeed 2.53%, according to the European Mortgage Federation (EMF).