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Mortgages To Become €140 Cheaper Per Year On Average

02/01/2015 – Cinco Días

The Euribor, which is the reference rate for most Spanish mortgages, has closed 2014 at a record low of 0.329% and will bring the price of mortgages down some 140 euros per year.

The Euribor began to drop months ago and has arrived at the end of December with a daily rate of 0.325%. So, it has ended the year at a record low of 0.329%, which is 0.214 points fewer than it was in December last year.

XTB analyst Miguel Antonio Marcos has said that 2014 was a “historic” year for the Euribor, since it has managed to set one record low after another since the beginning of the year.

“The fall in inflation and the slowing down of the European economy have come to an end, leading to an unprecedented performance in Europe: the application of unconventional monetary policy by the European Central Bank (ECB),” he told Europa Press.

Marcos indicated that these measures have been reflected in bond markets and in the rate of the Euribor, which started the year in the vicinity of 0.55% and ended the year at below 0.33%, registering a 40% drop. “A really positive year for Spanish mortgage holders,” he added.

Thus, Marcos estimated that the reduction of the rate over the last month will lead to “a slight relief” for mortgage holders who have to review their mortgages during the month of January.

“In principle, we think that the situation is not changing much, but we can not forget that the Euribor traded above 5% in the years before the crisis,” he stated.

Favorable Outlook for 2015

For the next year, the XTB analyst assures that everything leads us to think that the monetary policy carried out by the European Central Bank (ECB) will continue.

“With the economic situation in Europe failing to give definite signs of recovery and with inflation increasingly closer to zero, it appears that the Euribor will not be a problem for mortgage holders,” said Marcos.

In this regard, he said that the most likely scenario is for the 12-month Euribor to be in the region of 0.30%, “as cause and consequence of a new attempt by European bodies to circulate credit, reduce unemployment and make the economy in the ‘Old Continent’ grow at reasonable rates.”

Original article: Cinco Días (by EFE)

Translation: Aura REE