MADRID, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Spain saw a 10.3 percent increase in the number of mortgages granted to prospective homeowners year-on-year in 2018, according to figures published Wednesday.
Provisional data from the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) show that 345,186 mortgages were taken out in 2018, compared with 310,096 in 2017, which in turn saw a rise of almost 10 percent on the 2016 figures.
Not only was there a significant increase in the number of mortgages granted by banks in 2018, but the value of those mortgages was also up from 2017, with the average loan given to buyers increasing by 5.6 percent to 123,727 euros (141,049 U.S. dollars).
The total value of mortgages granted in 2018 increased to 42.7 billion euros (48.7 billion dollars), which is 16.5 percent higher than in 2017.
December 2018 was the only month which saw a slight fall in the number of mortgages with 20,933 new contracts signed, 0.9 percent down on a year-by-year comparison, but 27.4 percent down on the number of mortgages signed in November 2018.
The average interest rate in December 2018 was 2.62 percent, with the average loan scheduled to last for 24 years.
Finally, 58.6 percent of mortgages were fixed rate, with the other 41.4 percent variable rate loans.
