In 2010, the size of the EU27 mortgage market, as measured by the outstanding volume of residential mortgages, grew by 4.9 per cent to €6.4 trillion, the largest expansion since the onset of the crisis. A higher growth rate in residential mortgage lending subsequently led to a 0.4 per cent rise in aggregate EU27 residential mortgage lending to GDP ratio, resulting in 52.4 per cent overall. Commenting on the year’s trends, EMF’s Head of Statistics, Alessandro Sciamarelli, described how: “a moderate albeit fragile recovery in the macro-economic environment, coupled with mortgage interest rates down to record lows, provides the background for mortgage lending activity throughout 2010. Most new lending markets recorded increases compared to 2009, although remain far from pre-crisis figures with a levelling off observed in the second half of the year. The final picture has not changed drastically, remaining characteristically diverse across the EU.”
Over the year, mortgage demand was stimulated by the continuous supportive monetary policy stance of the ECB and other central banks. In Q3, growing inflationary pressures and increasing tensions on some of the peripheral euro area sovereign debt markets led to monetary policy tightening, causing marginal increases in mortgage interest rates.
Press release
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