Press release

The European Mortgage Federation (EMF) is pleased to announce the publication of the 2016 edition of Hypostat, which is its main statistical study encompassing data on recent developments in housing and mortgage markets in Europe and beyond.

The 2016 edition, covering the year 2015, presents data and analyses for the 28 Member States of the European Union, as well as data from seven additional countries: Australia, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Russia, Turkey and the United States.
Key facts revealed by Hypostat 2016 include:

– House prices grew in most EU countries year-on-year, although the situation across different countries remained highly fragmented. Nonetheless, the rate of decline experienced by some   countries seems to have slowed down.

– Housing supply indicators remained roughly at the level of 2009, with the exception of the number of building permits, which continues its timid positive trend since in 2014.

– Total outstanding lending in the EU increased year-on-year, surpassing for the first time the EUR 7 trillion mark.

– Interest rates on mortgage loans continued their overall downward trend. In some cases, there were signs indicating that a lower bound was reached and rates either remained constant     or timidly increased. The market mix for fixed and variable mortgage interest rates remains highly fragmented in the EU.

Commenting on the publication of Hypostat 2016, Luca Bertalot, EMF-ECBC Secretary General, said:

“The mortgage markets of the “Old Continent” continue to represent an essential cog in the macroeconomic mechanisms supporting the real economy. As Hypostat shows, EU housing and mortgage markets are also assessing how to respond to new and fundamental challenges in the form of the influx of migrants into the EU and the need for private investment to improve the energy efficiency of the EU’s housing stock. All of these elements demonstrate the crucial social role that mortgage credit plays in providing a way for households to invest long term and ensure wealth conservation for the future.”

The publication of Hypostat is the result of a collaborative effort by EMF national delegations and external experts. Hypostat 2016 as well as the earlier editions of the publication can be downloaded for free via the EMF website.