Statistics 30 June 2020 1:00 PM

Housing loan drawdowns lower and holiday cottage loan drawdowns higher than normal in May

Drawdowns of new housing loans amounted to EUR 1.5 bn in May 2020, a decline of 22% on May 2019. Housing loan drawdowns in May have last been below this amount in 2015. The annualised agreed rate was 0.75%, unchanged on April 2020.

Despite the low level of housing loan drawdowns in April and May 2020, annual growth in the housing loan stock (2.8%) has not moderated. This is partly due to the extensive use of interest-only periods for housing loans. After a record surge in April, however, the volume of renegotiated housing loan agreements¹ fell back to almost normal levels in May.

In May 2020, the average repayment period of new housing loans surpassed 21 years for the first time and was 21 years 4 months. Over 70% of new housing loans in May were with a maturity of over 20 years. Loans with longer maturities (over 29 years) accounted for 9% of new housing loans, compared with 5% a year earlier in May.

May 2020 proved exceptionally busy for drawdowns of loans for holiday residences (holiday cottage loans). Drawdowns of new holiday residence loans totalled EUR 117 million, an increase of 26% on May a year earlier. Drawdowns of these loans have last been higher month-on-month in June 2011. June has almost without exception been the busiest month for drawdowns every year. In May 2020, the average interest rate on new holiday residence loans was 0.93% and the average repayment period was 18 months 4 years.

Loans

At the end of May 2020, the stock of euro-denominated housing loans totalled EUR 101.2 bn and the annual growth rate of the stock was 2.8%. Household credit at end-May comprised EUR 16.6 bn in consumer credit and EUR 17.8 bn in other loans.

New drawdowns of loans to non-financial corporations (excl. overdrafts and credit card credit) in May amounted to EUR 1.8 bn. The average interest rate on new corporate loan drawdowns rose from April, to 1.99%. At the end of May, the stock of euro-denominated corporate loans totalled EUR 97.3 bn, of which loans to housing corporations accounted for EUR 36.2 bn.

Deposits

The stock of deposits by Finnish households at end-May totalled EUR 99.7 bn and the average interest rate on the deposits was 0.09%. Overnight deposits‑ accounted for EUR 87.1 bn and deposits with an agreed maturity for EUR 4.4 bn of the deposit stock. In May, households concluded EUR 0.4 bn of new agreements on deposits with an agreed maturity, at an average interest rate of 0.07%.

Key figures of Finnish MFIs' loans and deposits, preliminary data
	March, EUR million	April, EUR million	May, EUR million	May, 12-month change¹, %	Average interest rate, %
Loans to households², stock	135,115	135,165	135,590	3,0	1,43
- of which housing loans	100,694	100,878	101,152	2,8	0,89
Loans to non-financial corporations², stock	94,166	96,158	97,283	12,1	1,30
Deposits by households², stock	100,989	102,637	104,046	7,6	0,09
Households' new drawdowns of housing loans	1,713	1,447	1,489		0,75

* Includes euro-denominated loans and deposits to euro area.
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