Strong evolution of European mortgage and housing markets, despite some mismatches between demand and supply
Brussels, 30 January 2020 – For immediate release
The European Mortgage Federation (EMF) is pleased to announce the publication of its Quarterly Review of European Mortgage Markets for the third quarter (Q3) of 2019.
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:
- Total outstanding residential mortgage lending;
- Gross and net residential mortgage lending;
- Regulation & Government intervention;
- Nominal house price indices; and
- Mortgage interest rates.
Key Highlights from the Q3 2019 Quarterly Review
Macroeconomic context:
- In the third quarter of the year, the main macroeconomic indicators remained positive despite the different political and economic tensions, but a slowdown in growth rates is noticeable. Housing and mortgage markets continued to show a strong performance, although mismatches between supply and demand were present in some jurisdictions.
Market developments:
The evolution of the market in Q3 2019 was characterised by:
- The mortgage market saw its greatest expansion in gross residential lending terms since the end of 2007. Similarly, the amount of overall outstanding lending reached over EUR 7.16 tn. Therefore, both metrics showed significant growth figures on a quarterly and a yearly basis.
- In aggregate terms, the House Price Index increased by over 4.6% year-on-year. However, despite the generally positive trend, differences can be observed amongst countries.
- In many jurisdictions, as was the case in the previous quarter, new measures continue to be introduced in order to address potential issues of over-indebtedness and overheating of the market.
- Overall interest rates continued to decrease and, in this quarter, they almost reached the historical low of the sample at 2.23. Only four jurisdictions showed a quarter-on-quarter increase on their representative interest rates. Furthermore, the increase of the variance points to a higher divergence across markets.
The full Quarterly Review Q3 2019 can be accessed here.
