2023-05-15 05:11:57
In the latest report from the Bank of Spain (BDE) on the evolution of credit, new consumer operations reached a volume of 2,863 million euros in the month of March, which represents a rise of 11.14% compared to the previous month. . Compared to March of last year, the mass of hiring registers an almost identical increase of around 11%.
Mortgages in the fridge
The good moment of consumer loans is even more surprising when compared to the worrisome mortgage market. During the third month of 2023, loans for the purchase of housing plummeted 26.4% in the interannual rate, standing at the figure of 27,192 operations. The average amount of the operations fell to 146,870 euros, 4.4% less than in March last year.
The causes of this brutal contrast are mainly two: on the one hand, the stability of employment, which despite the economic shocks has kept its figures firm; and secondly, the very uneven evolution of the prices of both products.
With regard to the labor market, the latest Active Population Survey (EPA) records a drop in unemployment of 73,890 people in the first quarter, down to 2.788 million, a minimum of three decades ago.
Likewise, the number of Social Security affiliates exceeded 20.6 million people for the first time. For the moment, unemployment remains contained, enduring the ravages of geoeconomic reality and inflation, which encourages families to request liquidity to maintain their level of consumption.
divergent paths
The reality of home loans is very different. Last February, the average rates on new mortgages closed the month at 3.585%, the highest since 2012. A year earlier, the average rate was around 1.5%, which means that the average price of loans for Home ownership has tripled.
Consumer loans, on the other hand, have kept their prices stable since the beginning of 2023. In March, the average rate on new operations remained at 7.94%, barely higher than the 7.55% in February; and in the interannual rate, despite the fact that the rate of increase is greater, it is very far from the ‘rally’ of mortgages, since in March 2022 the rate stood at 6.55%.
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