Statistics 31 October 2011 1:00 PM

Housing loans with fixed interest rates increasingly popular

 

Housing loansLoans

Households’ new drawdowns of housing loans amounted to EUR 1.8 bn in September 2011, which is as much as in August 2011 and EUR 0.1 bn more than in September 2010. The average interest rate on new housing loan drawdowns declined by 0.03 percentage point, to 2.58%. In September, for 77% of new housing loan agreements, the loan interest rate was tied to one of the Euribor rates. Banks’ own reference rates accounted for 13% of the reference rates applied to new housing loans. Besides loans tied to prime rates, fixed-interest housing loans have also become increasingly popular in recent months; in September, fixed interest rates were applied to 10% of new housing loan agreements.

The stock of euro-denominated MFI housing loans to households grew by EUR 0.6 bn in September, to EUR 80.5 bn at month-end. The annual growth rate of the stock of housing loans to households remained unchanged at 6.7%. The average interest rate on the housing loan stock rose by 0.02 percentage point on August, to 2.49% in September.

New loan agreements with non-financial corporations totalled EUR 8.0 bn in September, which is EUR 0.9 bn more than in August 2011 and EUR 2.1 bn less than in September 2010. The average interest rate on new loan agreements declined to 2.60% in September, from 2.70% in August. The stock of euro-denominated loans to non-financial corporations has grown throughout the first part of the year; in September, the stock increased by EUR 0.7 bn. The annual growth rate picked up to 5.3% from 4.3% in August. The stock of euro-denominated loans to non-financial corporations stood at EUR 59.7 bn at month-end. The average interest rate on the stock remained almost unchanged at 2.87%.

 

Deposits

The stock of household deposits grew by EUR 0.6 bn in September. The stock of deposits with agreed maturity grew by EUR 1.2 bn, while the stock of overnight deposits contracted by EUR 0.5 bn. The total stock of deposits amounted to EUR 81.2 bn at month-end and the average interest rate was 1.02%.

In July–September 2011, households' new long-term savings agreements totalled 1,832, and by the end of September, households had made a total of 15,919 long-term savings agreements. At the end of September, households’ long-term savings accounts amounted to EUR 17.5 million. The majority of the savings (56%) are invested in fund shares.


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

  July,
EUR million		 August,
EUR million
EUR million		 September,
12-month change1, %

 
Average interest rate, %
Loans to households2, stock 107.204 107.804 108.451 5.7 2.86
    - of which housing loans 79.539 79.982 80.541 6.7 2.49
Loans to non-financial corporations2, stock 58.951 59.001 59.739 5.3 2.87
Deposits by households2, stock 80.822 80.534 81.167

6.1

 1.02
Households' new drawdowns of housing loans 1.626 1.818 1.849 – 2.58

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.

More information:

Hanna Häkkinen, tel. +358 10 831 2552, email: hanna.hakkinen(at)bof.fi
Jussi Pajunen, tel. +358 10 831 2343, email: jussi.pajunen(at)bof.fi

The next news release will be published at 1 pm on 30 November 2011.

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