Long-term mortgages to access a home are becoming less frequent in the Canary Islands. The number of mortgage loans has fallen by 28.6% in the archipelago in twelve months.
Of the 881 home purchase transactions that took place in the archipelago last May, only 313 were made through a mortgage loan. That is, 64.5% of the transactions were paid in cash.
Credit has become expensive and difficult as a result of the successive interest rate hikes initiated by the European Central Bank in July last year. Since then, forecasts indicated that this year housing prices would stop growing and purchases would also slow down.
The data, in effect, confirm that the number of sales has decreased, although by a much smaller percentage than expected. In the Canary Islands during the month of May there were 5.6% fewer transactions than were made in May of last year.
However, housing prices in the Canary Islands continue to rise, albeit at a slower rate. In May, the square meter averaged 1,294 euros in the archipelago, 2.5% more expensive than twelve months ago.