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Bank of Finland: More new mortgages in April than any month during past three years

The number of loans taken out for leisure homes or cottages in Finland has increased for the first time in more than three years. According to the Bank of Finland, it’s common that demand for second mortgages rises as summer nears.

Avaimet kauppakirjan päällä.
Image: Ismo Pekkarinen / AOP

New home loans in April totalled 1.6 billion euros, which is the largest monthly total in more than three years, according to the Bank of Finland.

The number of loans for leisure homes has increased since the start of the year, which has turned the loan portfolio to growth.

In euros, mortgages represented 92.5 billion euros and year-on-year growth in the mortgage sector was 2.7 percent.

In April, the average home loan interest rate was at 1.22 percent, while the average repayment time was 19 years.

According to the Bank of Finland, demand for loans for leisure homes or cottages is usually highest in June.

Less new summer cottages being built

Meanwhile, in real estate news, the number of new summer cottages being built in Finland continues to decrease.

According to Statistics Finland just over 1100 new cottages were constructed last year while the year before the number was more than 1700. Just six years ago the number of new cottages was over 4,000 and during a boom in the 1980s the number of new cottages was 10,000 per year.