Signing of mortgage agreements in Spain is gaining momentum again. A year and a half after the start of the pandemic, the issuance of mortgage loans on a monthly basis exceeds the indicators of 2019. In April alone, there were 32.1% more mortgage loans issued than in the same month of 2020, 9% more than in 2019. A gradual return to normalcy and progress in vaccinations have quickly recovered the mortgage market, which has been hit hard during the worst months of isolation. However, there have been certain changes in the mortgage market in recent months that are expected to continue or intensify in the future and bring with them what experts have already called “de-escalation mortgages” or “post-pandemic mortgages.”
“Over the past year, there have been several changes in trends that will remain for a long time. For example, compared to April last year, the conversion rate for online mortgages has skyrocketed. The number of visits has not changed so much, that is, not more people are applying for mortgages on the Internet than before, but much more of these consultations are being converted,” explains to El Confidencial Pau A. Montserrat, professor at the University of the Balearic Islands, economist and expert specializing in financial products, partner at Futur Finances.
According to the expert, “during the pandemic, people not only had more time, being locked up for several months, but also did not want to go to the bank office for fear of infection”. There is one more additional thing in this regard - banks have accelerated the process of closing offices. All this contributed to the execution of mortgage agreements via computer or “smartphone”.
This process could take three or four years, but was moved to an earlier date. Pau A. Montserrat also highlights the growth in the number of “online” mortgage brokers compared to traditional ones. “Free” online brokers are not new, but until now it has been customary to hire a traditional real estate lending intermediary, whose service fees can range from € 3,000 to € 4,500. Now we are faced with a new era of brokers, with a growing number of companies, all of them are intermediaries in real estate lending online, but they do not charge a commission directly from the client, but from the bank,” says Futur Finances expert.