The interest rate implied in the housing credit agreements as a whole rose to 3.162% in August, translating an increase of 2.7 basis points (p.b.) compared to the previous month, released the INE this Friday.
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18/09/2026
by
News to Minutes
Beatriz Vasconcelos
Housing credit: Average provision rises to maximum historical 441€
The average interest rate on new housing credit operations rose again in July, to 2.96%, above 2.89% of the same month of 2025, Banco de Portugal (BdP) announced today.
In the new contracts and renegotiations - increased 0.02 percentage points compared to the 2.94% recorded in June, being at the highest value since May 2025 (2.97%). In September and October 2023, this rate reached 4.31%.
The central bank details that this increase resulted from new contracts and renegotiated contracts, whose average interest rates increased by 0.02 percentage points to 2.95% and 2.97%, respectively.
In the euro area, the average interest rate on new housing loans rose by 0.04 percentage points to 3.52%, with Portugal maintaining the fifth lowest average rate among the euro area countries after Malta, Bulgaria, Spain and Croatia.
The average monthly provision of housing loans increased for the 11th consecutive month and reached a new peak in the historical series: EUR 441, EUR 5 more than in June and EUR 23 more than at the end of 2025.
According to the BdP, this increase resulted from both the average provision of existing contracts and new contracts, “the latter with higher average benefits”.
In July, 86% of new housing loans were contracted at a mixed rate, i.e. with a fixed interest rate in an initial period followed by a variable rate.
In the new operations the mixed rate, the average interest rate increased by 0.02 percentage points compared to May to 2.83%, while in the new operations the variable rate increased by 0.04 percentage points to 3.19%.
[News updated at 11:21]