For those who took out a variable mortgage in the years in which rates were almost zero and now find themselves with the individual installments constantly increasing due to the monetary tightening of the ECB, there are two most used possibilities. The first is theextension of the loan term, as government officials have also urged and how some banks are already doing it, a road that anyway brings some disadvantages.
The other way is to ask for one substitute, to get out of the grip of the variable rate monthly installment and switch to the fixed rate.
Many have already made use of this possibility in recent months, when it had become clear that the increase in official ECB rates would last a long time. In fact, Christine Lagarde's action to fight inflation began last July and since then the overall increase has been 400 basis points, to which will also be added that of September.
Le subrogation requests, which obviously were very contained when monetary tightening wasn't biting, have returned to growth. According to data from the MutuiOnline Observatory, in the second quarter of 2023 they reached 30,4% of the loans taken out for the house, against 12,1% in the second quarter of 2022. evaluate many variables, from the remaining amount to be repaid, to the residual duration of the loan. But what is certain is that the operation is free of charge.
Banks more cautious in granting the subrogation
However, some other difficulties are now emerging. Lenders are becoming much more selective in the grant the subrogation especially since many of those who ask for it no longer meet the criteria required by the bank. Which ones are they? The most important is the 33% rule: the mortgage payment cannot exceed on average one third of the family's net income. Unfortunately, however, in recent months, the installments of variable-rate mortgages have risen between 60 and 75%, thus eroding a much larger slice of the income which, on the other hand, remained on average almost unchanged.
The lenders are cautious to avoid embarking on an increase in sufferings, considered a picture on the horizon that may not be rosy, between inflation and rate hikes. For the same reason, banks are blocking the way for so-called "serial subrogators", i.e. those who already come with one or more subrogations behind them. After all, the governor of the Bank of Italy himself Ignazio Visco ha reported the first delays in installment payments. “In the first three months of this year – Visco reported to the ABI meeting – the first possible signs were recorded in this direction: the incidence of the flow of loans with late payments, even if not yet such as require classification as non-performing, has in fact doubled, to 1,6 per cent of all performing loans per annum".-
Added to this is also an increase in costs borne by the banks, as a consequence of the approval on 20 May of the law on thefair compensation, which has in fact raised the average tariffs of many professionals, including those of notaries and experts.
Switching to a fixed-rate mortgage remains an appropriate solution
In any case, for those who meet the requirements, the transition from an adjustable rate mortgage and one to fixed rate subtraction still a convenient solution.
“Those who need a mortgage today must remember that fixed rates have historically more than acceptable costs: by comparing the offers, it is possible to find the fixed rate even below 3%” explains Alessio Santarelli, general manager of the Broking division of the MutuiOnline group. "Right now, the fixed is configured as a safer choice, especially considering that the gap between fixed and variable is increasingly thin".
