Statistics 30 April 2013 1:00 PM

Volume of new housing loan drawdowns small in March

 

New drawdowns of housing loansIn March, new housing loans to a value of just under EUR 1.1 billion were drawn down in Finland, compared with almost EUR 1.6 billion a year earlier. The decline in new housing loan drawdowns observed already at the start of the year was further fed by the introduction of a higher rate of asset transfer tax in March. In addition, the imputed interest margin on housing loans broadened to 1.54% in March from the February figure of 1.48%.

Long-term savings also declined early in the year. In the first quarter of 2013, Finnish households agreed just slightly in excess of 300 new long-term savings contracts, while in the same period over 900 old contracts were terminated. The rather small number of new contracts was influenced by a law that came into effect at the start of the year that raised the threshold age at which funds can be withdrawn from 63 to 68 years. Despite the weak interest in this form of saving, EUR 5.9 billion was invested in long-term savings accounts in the first quarter of 2013.
 

Loans

In March 2013, households drew down new housing loans to the value of EUR 1.1 billion, or EUR 0.5 billion less than in March 2012. The average rate of interest on the new loans drawn down was 2.03% in March, the same as in February. The stock of euro-denominated housing loans at the end of March was EUR 87 billion, with an average interest of 1.53%. Annual growth in the housing loan stock slowed further in March, to 5.1%. Out of the stock of household loans at the end of March, consumer credit accounted for EUR 13 billion and other loans for EUR 15 billion.
 
New corporate loans (excl. overdrafts and card credit) drawn down in March totalled EUR 2.0 billion, or EUR 0.1 billion more than in March 2012. The average interest on new corporate loans rose 0.82 of a percentage point from February, to 2.04% in March. The stock of euro-denominated corporate loans at the end of March stood at EUR 64 billion, of which housing corporations accounted for EUR 16 billion. Annual growth in the stock of corporate loans slowed slightly (0.4 of a percentage point) from February, to 3.7% in March.
 

Deposits

The stock of household deposits at the end of March was EUR 82 billion. The average rate of interest was 0.61%. Of the total stock, overnight deposits accounted for EUR 49 billion, and fixed term deposits for EUR 18 billion. Households concluded new fixed-term deposit contracts in March in the amount of EUR 1.1 billion. The average interest on the new contracts rose slightly, from 1.12% in February to 1.14% in March.


Notes:
MFIs comprise all monetary financial institutions operating in Finland.
Loans and deposits comprise all euro-denominated loans and deposits vis-à-vis the euro area as a whole, with countries other than Finland accounting for a very small share of total volumes.

 

Key figures of Finnish MFIs' loans and deposits, preliminary data

  January,
EUR million		 February,
EUR million		 March,
EUR million		 March,
12-month change1, %
Average interest rate, %
Loans to households2, stock 114,718 114,835 115,057 4.2 1.92
    - of which housing loans 86,364 86,535 86,709 5.1 1.53
Loans to non-financial corporations2, stock 63,370 63,973 64,010 3.7 1.90
Deposits by households2, stock 81,859 81,701 82,274

0.3

 0.61
Households' new drawdowns of housing loans 1,108 1,282 1,090 – 2.03

1 Rate of change has been calculated from monthly differences in levels adjusted for classification and other revaluation changes. 
2 Households also include non-profit institutions serving households; non-financial corporations also include housing corporations.

For further information, please contact:

Essi Tamminen, tel. +358 10 831 2395, email: essi.tamminen(at)bof.fi
Jaakko Suni, tel. +358 10 831 2454, email: jaakko.suni(at)bof.fi

The next news release will be published at 1 pm on 31 May 2013.

Related statistical data and graphs are also available on the Bank of Finland website:
http://www.suomenpankki.fi/link/2331b6266da3492f832ec75e0f654bd9.aspx?epslanguage=en. 

You can also subscribe to the monthly Loans, deposits and interest rates –newsletter to your email from the Bank of Finland website