Housing loan market remained brisk in November 2021

Finnish households’ drawdowns of new housing loans in November 2021 amounted to EUR 1.9 bn, an increase of 3.1% on the same month last year. Buy-to-let mortgages accounted for EUR 180 million of the new housing loans. In the first 11 months of 2021, drawdowns of housing loans have increased by 12% in comparison to the same period in 2020. Due to the high level of drawdowns, the annual growth rate of the housing loan stock remained high (4.2%) at the end of November 2021. However, the growth rate has slowed slightly since July 2021. At the end of November 2021, the stock of housing loans to Finnish households amounted to EUR 106.7 bn, of which buy-to-let mortgages accounted for EUR 8.6 bn.

The average interest rate on new housing loans was 0.76% in November 2021. The average interest rate has remained almost unchanged for several years, but has seen a slight increase in the last few months. It has not been above its current level since May 2019. The average interest rate rose on both owner-occupied residential mortgages and buy-to-let mortgages. In November 2021, the average interest rate on new owner-occupied residential mortgages was 0.74% while the average rate on new buy-to-let mortgages was higher, 0.91%.

During the pandemic, many households have invested in housing, which has been reflected in increased drawdowns of housing loans and holiday residence loans. At the same time, the share of loans with longer repayment periods have increased. Loans with a repayment period of over 25 years accounted for 40.3% of the new housing loans. Their share has increased by 10 percentage points after February 2020, since the onset of the pandemic. The average repayment period was 21 years and 3 months in November 2021. The average repayment period of buy-to-let mortgages (18 years and 2 months) was noticeably shorter than that of owner-occupied residential mortgages (21 years and 3 months).

Loans

Out of all loans to Finnish households at end-November, consumer credit totalled EUR 16.7 bn and other loans EUR 18.0 bn.

Drawdowns of new loans[1] by Finnish non-financial corporations in November amounted to EUR 1.9 bn, of which loans to housing corporations accounted for EUR 505 million. The average interest rate on the new drawdowns declined from October, to 1.5%. The stock of loans to Finnish non-financial corporations at end-November stood at EUR 97.0 bn, of which loans to housing corporations accounted for EUR 39.4 bn.

Deposits

The stock of Finnish households’ deposits at end-November 2021 stood at EUR 109.1 bn, and the average interest rate on the deposits was 0.03%. Overnight deposits accounted for EUR 100.1 bn and deposits with agreed maturity for EUR 2.2 bn of the deposit stock. In November, Finnish households concluded EUR 51 million of new agreements on deposits with agreed maturity, at an average interest rate of 0.18%.

For further information, please contact:

Ville Tolkki, tel. +358 9 183 2420, email: ville.tolkki(at)bof.fi,

Antti Hirvonen, tel. +358 9 183 2121, email: antti.hirvonen(at)bof.fi

The next news release on money and banking statistics will be published at 10:00 on 31 January 2022.

Related statistical data and graphs are also available on the Bank of Finland website at https://www.suomenpankki.fi/en/Statistics/mfi-balance-sheet/.

[1] Excl. overdrafts and credit card credit.