According to modeling done by Deco/Dinheiro&Direitos, the mortgage payment paid to the bank rose again in February in floating rate contracts, with an increase of almost 200 euros over a six-month period compared to the latest changes.
Thus, a client with a 30-year loan of 150,000 euros, indexed to the six-month Euribor rate – most commonly used in home loan agreements in Portugal – and with a “spread” (bank profit margin) of 1%, he will pay 703, 90 euros from February, which means an increase of 188.66 euros compared to the last revision in August.
In the case of a loan under the same conditions (amount and maturity), but indexed to a three-month Euribor, the client now pays 660.66 euros, which is 73.58 euros more than in November.
These values were calculated taking into account the January Euribor averages of 2.858% for six months and 2.345% for three months.
As for loans indexed to 12-month Euribor, the mortgage payment – for a loan with the above conditions – will be 745.57 euros from February, which is 295.27 euros more than what you paid from January 2022.
In this case, the value was calculated taking into account the average value of the 12-month Euribor in December, which was 3.337%.
Changes in Euribor interest rates are closely linked to increases or decreases in ECB interest rates.
After several years of negative territory, the Euribor began to rise more significantly since February 4, after the European Central Bank (ECB) admitted that it could raise key interest rates due to rising inflation in the eurozone.
Since then, the ECB has already raised key rates four times, meaning an increase in the amount that customers pay for loans, primarily for home loans, which has left many families in a difficult situation. Sources in the sector told Lusa that banks have had many contacts with customers who want to renegotiate loans so that the increase in the monthly payment is not so big.
Faced with the deteriorating cost of home loans, the government approved a regulation setting out the conditions under which banks must offer loan renegotiations to customers to avoid situations of default. The measures are valid from November 26, 2022 until the end of 2023.
According to the Bank of Portugal, mortgage agreements renegotiated under the new Default Risk Action Plan (PARI) are considered “regular renegotiations” without “any specific flag” in the Credit Responsibility Center (list of the bank’s insolvent customers). ). available to all banks).
However, consumer advocacy association Deco has warned that there are banks that discourage customers from using a transitional regime that allows them to renegotiate a loan, arguing that they will stay with a “signal” loan.
While banks cannot flag these customers as non-compliant in the Credit Responsibility Center, Lusa was told by various industry sources that these customers are listed in each bank’s internal systems, which could make it difficult to access that bank’s loan products in the future. .
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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