Press release

PRESS RELEASE

Q2 2018 mortgage and housing market momentum

projected in Q1 continues into Q2

–

Brussels, 24 October 2018 – For immediate release

The European Mortgage Federation (EMF) is delighted to announce the publication of its Quarterly Review of European Mortgage Markets for the second quarter (Q2) of 2018.

Produced in cooperation with the Federation’s national experts, the Quarterly Review provides the latest short-term developments in mortgage and housing markets across the EU.

The publication highlights expert analytical commentary together with data tables and charts on the following key indicators:

• Mortgage interest rates;
• Total outstanding residential mortgage lending;
• Gross and net residential mortgage lending;
• Nominal house price indices, and
• Regulation & Government intervention

Key highlights on market developments

The evolution of the market in this second quarter of the year is characterised by:

• A positive growth of the gross lending in aggregate terms for the EU countries of our sample with only 5 countries showing a fall in gross lending
• A slight increase in the average interest rate for the EU along with an increase of its variance for the EU countries of our sample
• A deceleration in the rate of growth of house prices

Luca Bertalot, EMF-ECBC Secretary General, commented:

“The positive economic momentum observed in the European Union over recent quarters continued into Q2 2018. With GDP growing and rates of unemployment falling, even though they remain slightly above the pre-crisis levels, the European economy is expanding at a stable pace. At the same time, this positive environment has favoured the evolution of housing and mortgage markets and the expansion of private consumption, albeit with increasing regional divergences across the countries in our sample.”

 The full Quarterly Review – Q2 2018 and the archive of previous editions (back to Q3 1998) are available on the EMF website here.