Families pay more than 11,000 million between loans and mortgages a year

2024-09-07 09:13:36

Spanish families they keep hiding, reducing the use y take interest to amortize their loans and mortgages are more balanced than in 2022, but which allows them to reduce their debts in one year (between April 2023 and March 2024) more than 11.000 million euros. This has meant a reduction in household debt of 4.4 points of GDP, reaching 46%, the the lowest recorded since the first half of 2001. Moreover, it is a level that is 7.3 points lower than the Eurozone area, according to a report on ‘Factors that have increased the savings of Spanish families’, which CaixaBank research published this Monday.

“As a result of those interest rate increases, Families have decided to continue in 2024 with the trend that started two years ago and have allocated their large savings to the net amortization of bank loans. These have been 11.357 million euros amortized compared to an average of 10,299 million that have been registered in the first quarters of the year between 2015 and 2019,” explained economist Javier García-Arenas, author of the report.

This occurs, however, at a slower pace than that seen in 2022, when, with interest rates through the roof, clan who can afford it chose to pay a part of their credit early to reduce your debt. “One of the clear effects of this behavior is that spending is reduced and remains low,” García-Arenas emphasized. “We have found – adds the CaixaBank Research economy – that in the first quarter of 2024, while household disposable income rose by 8%, final consumption expenditure has improved by 5.3% a year, which means that gross savings rate is 14,000 million of euros, a relevant figure because the first three months of the year have always shown, at least between 2005 and 2019, a negative balance in the large savings of households”.

And what has led to this savings? “Well, first of all, those good time labor market“, points out García-Arenas. During the first quarter of this 2024, the salary of workers increased by 8.3% a year, a number that breaks down to an increase in full-time workers of 3.8% year-on-year and has an increase in compensation for the employee of 4.5%.

To this factor is added human reproduction registered thanks to the migratory flow. “Specifically, last year and until March 2024, the Spanish population has increased by 492,560 people, thanks to the increase of 558,652 people born abroad. moved to the creation of the new housewhich has been growing at around 1% a year”.

things are hard began to change “in the medium termin a few years”, the investor is the author of the study, since “when the real disposable income for the family is analyzed, to take into account the evolution of the purchasing power of that income in the face of the increase in the money, it is. note that it has increased by a non-negligible 3.4% a year.” “In other words, Spanish families are regaining purchasing powersomething sooner or later must be demonstrated in use,” he concluded.