Covid-19 outbreak hit heterogeneously the European housing and mortgage markets in Q2 2020
Brussels, 2 November 2020 – 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 2020.
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;
- Mortgage interest rates; and
- COVID-19 related impact.
Key highlights for Q2 2020 Quarterly Review
Macroeconomic context:
- Macroeconomic figures in the second quarter of 2020 show the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak. Especially in April public life practically came to a standstill and in overall Q2 registered a contraction of 11.4% in GDP in the EU 27. In order to counterbalance this heavy toll the EU and Member States put in place several measures to alleviate the loss of income and to support entire economic sectors.
Market developments:
The evolution of the market in Q2 2020 was characterised by the following:
- The mortgage market experienced an important slow-down as a consequence of the pandemic outbreak. Outstanding mortgage loans bounced back to 3.2% on a yearly basis, however, the quarterly growth was around 0.47%. Outstanding mortgage loans at the end of Q2 2020 reached EUR 7.32 tn. New lending paid a heavy price for the standstill in several countries during April and part of May with a 6.8% year-on-year contraction (6.1% q-o-q). The situation improved especially thanks to the easing of confinement measures in June.
- The evolution of housing supply has been heterogenous within the sample. Similarly, house price dynamics have followed different trends. However, on average house prices grew by 0.7% y-o-y and registered the first q-o-q contraction of 1.7% since Q1 2013 to grow by 4.4% y-o-y and by 1% q-o-q.
- Q2 2020 continue to build on the significant government intervention of the previous quarter in order to alleviate the economic effects of COVID-19. The vast majority of European countries approved moratoria and income substitution policies to support households and businesses.
- Most jurisdictions recorded very low interest rate levels, continuing the decreasing trend of the previous quarters. The sample’s unweighted average presents a new all-time low at 2.09%.
