The average amount of a mortgage for the purchase of a home currently reaches almost 170,000 euros, while a decade ago, in August 2015, it was a little more than 100,000 euros. This represents an increase of close to 63% at the national level, but if we look at the autonomous community, this increase shoots up to 70% or more in communities such as Madrid or Barcelona, according to EFE.
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the average amount of a mortgage for the purchase of a home was 104,318 euros in August 2015, while in August of this year it reached 169,650, according to the latest records available. This only confirms the upward trend in housing prices that we also see month after month.
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The increase in mortgages, although notable, is below the increase in housing prices, which have gone from 1,524 to 2,679 euros per square meter in the same period, 76% more. This increase in prices has especially stressed the markets of Madrid and Andalusia, where loans have skyrocketed by more than 70% and the price per square meter has reached record levels.
In Madrid the average amount per mortgage has doubled
In the Community of Madrid, the average amount has practically doubled, going from 141,847 to 276,158 euros, an increase of 95%. Even so, this increase is only half of what has increased the price of housing in the region, which has gone from 1,557 to 4,384 euros per square meter. In Andalusia, the average loan has grown by 77%, from 89,042 to 157,647 euros, compared to a 59% increase in the price of land.
Experts attribute part of this increase to the rise in the sale and purchase of free housing by foreigners, which in the first half of the year grew by 2% year-on-year, reaching 71,155 transactions, according to the General Council of Notaries. British, Moroccans and Germans lead the transactions, representing 19.3% of the national total, and are especially concentrated on the Costa del Sol and the capital, two of the most coveted destinations for buyers with high purchasing power.
By community, the largest increases after Madrid and Andalusia are recorded in Valencia (+74%) and the Balearic Islands (+70%), followed by the Canary Islands (+68%), La Rioja (+63%), Murcia (+56%) and Catalonia (+53%). At the opposite extreme are Extremadura (+28%) and Aragón (+31%), where the real estate market shows a more contained evolution.
The strong growth in mortgage amounts reflects both the rise in housing prices and the rise in credit prices after the cycle of rate increases. Although the Euribor has moderated its advance in recent months, financial conditions continue to be more demanding than a decade ago, and households must allocate a growing part of their income to paying the mortgage.
In summary, the Spanish mortgage market faces a decade marked by the loss of accessibility: prices rise more than salaries, loans are higher and the weight of foreign demand is consolidated as a decisive factor in the evolution of the residential market. The Government has already launched some measures to fight the problem of access to housing, such as the 42.5 million in subsidies that it has already approved, but they still seem insufficient.