Those mortgaged with a semi-annual payment review are already smiling. With the Euribor lower than six months ago, your loans become cheaper. Among those who review it annually, you still have to wait a few months to see the first drops. Is it worth taking the leap? Just as they become cheaper before, these mortgages can also penalize.
With the January Euribor at 3.609%, starting from an average mortgage of about 140,000 euros and with a 30-year amortization and Euribor 0.99%, someone with an annual review will see their installment jump from 695.04 euros to 717.62 . If it is semiannual, from 763.49 euros in July it now goes to 717.62, always based on calculations with tools from the Spanish Mortgage Association (AHE). Thus, some will pay 23 euros more per month, and others, 46 less. It is something that already happened in December.
“In mortgages with a semiannual review, the advantages and disadvantages go hand in hand. They are the first to notice a rising Euribor, but those increases are minor and then they are the first to notice the falls. Someone with an annual review (who has just updated) will have to wait until January of next year to see decreases...”, counters Laura Martínez, spokesperson for the iAhorro portal. In annual cases, until people have to review in March or April, reductions in prices are not expected, Martínez calculates.
Semi-annual review mortgages are a small part of the market. “According to our data, 95% of variable and mixed mortgages in their variable period have an annual review, not a semiannual review,” details Ricard Garriga, CEO of the Trioteca platform. About three or four years ago, with the Euribor in negative territory, the entities encouraged it a little more so that they could transfer a possible increase sooner. “The more periodic the review is, the more it absorbs the rises and falls of the rate,” he explains. The conditions “depend on the client's offer, the bank and the time of the request. This means that two people who have taken out a mortgage on the same day may sooner or later experience a rise or fall.” Since 2021, someone with an annual review in January has had three increases, compared to the five increases and one fall for those with a semi-annual review.
Garriga rules out that the use of the shorter review becomes a trend. “It is an interesting mortgage for more investor profiles, with loans of up to 100,000 euros and lower payments,” adds Martínez. Furthermore, in more common loans, for larger amounts and for individuals, “the more stability, the better.” “Now with the volatile Euribor it is not recommended. If it is going to keep you awake and you have no tolerance for risk, better something safer like a mixed or fixed mortgage,” he warns.
If you have an annual review and want to go to the semi-annual review, you will have to make a subrogation (change of bank), a novation (change of conditions) or a new loan. At iAhorro they point out that today Mediolanum or Caja Rural de Navarra stand out among those with the most frequent reviews of their offer.
The Euribor has been declining for a quarter and the scenario points to cuts in the European Central Bank's interest rates for the summer, which would give rise to new declines. With this, the entities have been adjusting the offer. “There is a lot of demand, more than expected. “Prices are considerably lower than in December,” says Federico Muñoz, general manager in Spain of the mortgage consultancy Bayteca. To find the cheapest one, “you don't always have to look at the same bank,” since there is competition “and the same bank doesn't always have the best offer.” To protect themselves from the fluctuations of the Euribor, today mixed mortgages, which combine a first fixed stage and then a variable one, "are the majority" of those signed, he assures.
