Mortgage lending in Spain rises by 10 percent in September

Mortgage activity in Spain rose by 10 per cent in September, according to the country's central statistics unit. Mortgage for residential property in Spain appears to have achieved a level of stability and gradual month by month growth in all 17 regions.

In September, the number of mortgages registered on residential properties was 26,667, an increase of 10% over the same period last year. The average loan capital also rose by 2.2%, rising to an average mortgage loan of 113,193 euros, the highest level since February 2011. The figures indicate that not only are prices beginning to recover, banks are also regaining the confidence that was lost pre-crash in the face of rising demand and activity.

Further positive news is that while previously mortgage rates varied significantly from region to region, September saw an upward trend in loans in all of the 17 Spanish regions with the most significant increases reported in the Canary Islands (45.2%), Cantabria (38.5%) and Catalunya (21.1%).

The cumulative figures of mortgage activity in 2016 underlines the continuing upward trend; the 212,587 mortgages registered within the first nine months of the year represent a rise of 12.6% over last year. Similarly, the running 12-monthly total of over 270,000 is 13.1% higher than the grand total in 2015.