The installments of the old variable rate mortgages have grown by up to 78 percent more: it means that those who paid an installment of around 500 euros per month, today pay, per month, 890 euros or 390 euros more; it is very likely that, in light of the June decision, the installments of old variable rate mortgages could begin a progressive decline, even if it is difficult, at the moment, to indicate a precise trajectory. This was revealed by a study by the Autonomous Federation of Italian Bankers (Fabi).
Mortgage rates fell to an average of 3,69 percent, compared to average levels above 5 percent in 2023: a reduction which entails, in the case of a 25-year real estate loan of 200 thousand euros, an overall saving of 54 thousand euros (-14,9 percent) is reported in the study. Consumer credit rates fell to an average of 8,93 percent, after peaks above 14 percent. It means that a 25 thousand euro car bought entirely in installments, with a 10-year loan, costs 10 thousand euros less (-20,7 percent); while for a 750 euro washing machine, with a 5-year credit, the saving today is 144 euros (-13,1 percent).
“After the moment of the large increases and, awaiting the reduction of rates in the coming months, the banks have understood that the time has come to put a stop to the difficulties of families and businesses who still find themselves paying the price of a monetary policy restrictive”, declared the general secretary of Fabi, Lando Maria Sileoni, commenting on the study on the rates applied by banks to customers. “For many, the unsustainability of installments has already lasted too long and, in this transition phase, anticipating the ECB’s moves reduces the damage for customers and can only help improve the credit quality of the sector”, adds Sileoni, according to which while waiting for effective and lasting solutions from those who govern in Frankfurt, the priority is to give a strong signal to those who find themselves in greater economic difficulty and to young people and with the reduction of rates, it also resurfaces – in some way the social function of the sector.
“We are, therefore, in the transition phase: while waiting for the first cut in the cost of money, which the ECB should decide in about ten days, the banks are therefore improving the conditions on loans and mortgages to families. The average interest rate has already dropped significantly compared to the end of 2024 and this entails important advantages for all those people who want to buy a house. As always, banks anticipate monetary policy decisions: they do so when the base rate rises, the same goes when a reduction is imminent. It is important to underline that we will never return to zero rates, i.e. to that phase, in some ways anomalous, which lasted 10 years in which the conditions for access to credit were particularly favourable. In the next 18-24 months the ECB will probably drastically reduce the cost of money, hoping that inflation will remain at today’s low levels, to reach around 2%: that is the substantially optimal level to which we must get used to”, concludes the secretary general of Fabi.
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