The headline many thought never to see – Portugal’s banks are at last loosening their purse strings and lending to home buyers, but only on their terms and only at a steady pace.
The granting of mortgages in fact has been increasing throughout 2013 from €132 million in February to €185 million in July but these amounts are nowhere near the heady years of easy credit when between 2002 and 2007 banks were throwing money, between €1.2 and €1.8 billion a year, into a housing market that was rising rapidly and which ended rather abruptly with the financial crash.
It is now back to reality as the average home loan was €76,442 in July, rising from the March figure of €70,489.
Buying a home has ceased to be an option for many Portuguese as the years of austerity stretch to a distant, hazy horizon but the estate agents’ association APEMIP claim that mortgage lending is still accessible to many, and the bank figures do seem to bear this out.
The average bank valuation per square meter in the residential sector was €981 per m2 in rising to €1,014 per m2 in July. By regions, Lisbon, the Algarve and Madeira recorded the highest evaluation figures.
