Vertical collapse of the mortgages in Italy. In first quarter of 2012 disbursements are practically halved: -47% on an annual basis. This is what emerges from the thirty-second edition of the Observatory on retail credit created by Assofin, Crif and Prometeia.
In 2011, the flows of new mortgages for the purchase of homes fell by 9,1% compared to the previous year. But it is above all other mortgages (for restructuring, liquidity, debt consolidation, subrogation and replacement) that suffer the net decline: after the -24,9% of 2011, in the first three months of 2012 the contraction was 80% compared to the same period of the 2011.
Starting from the second half of 2011, the household mortgage market “showed a progressive slowdown – reads the report -, reflecting the worsening of both the climate of confidence and the prospects for the residential property market. The increase in interest rates applied to new contracts may have also contributed to discouraging the request for home loans".
The utmost caution in offer policies and household behavior is also demonstrated by the "low share of mortgages with Loan to Value ratio, over 80% of the financed property, which in 2011 involved just about 5% of total flows after the 11% reached in the period before the crisis and by the increase in the share of new mortgages with a duration of more than 26 years (equal to 42% of the total)”.
Furthermore, the climate of uncertainty has prompted households to choose solutions and formulas that protect them against any future rate hikes. The shares of mixed-rate and fixed-rate mortgages are increasing (both to 27% in the first three months of 2012). However, approximately 50% of total disbursements in 2011 and 46% in the first quarter of 2012 are still stipulated at a variable rate, favored by the reference market rates which remained at low levels.
