Cyprus outpaced Eurozone in housing loan costs in October
Source: Cyprus Mail
The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) on Monday released its late report on interest rates across all monetary financial institutions (MFIs) for the month of October.
The report showed fluctuations in mortgage loans, business lending, and deposit rates.
According to the CBC, housing loan rates in Cyprus experienced a slight rise, while those in the eurozone declined.
In addition, business loan rates showed a downward trend both locally and across the eurozone.
The report also showed that household deposit rates in Cyprus fell, maintaining a gap below the eurozone average.
Mortgage loan rates
The average interest rate for new housing loans in Cyprus increased slightly to 4.55 per cent in October, up from 4.49 per cent in September.
By contrast, the eurozone experienced a slight decline, with the average rate falling to 4.37 per cent.
Among individual banks, significant variations were observed. Bank of Cyprus recorded the highest mortgage loan rate at 5.20 per cent, marking an increase from 5.11 per cent the previous month.
Alpha Bank Cyprus reported the lowest rate at 3.34 per cent, up from 2.90 per cent in September.
Other notable changes included a decrease at Hellenic Bank to 3.68 per cent from 4.12 per cent and a slight rise at Ancoria Bank to 4.39 per cent from 4.28 per cent.
The overall average housing loan rate in Cyprus, which includes renegotiated agreements, reached 4.62 per cent, compared to 4.53 per cent in September.
Meanwhile, eurozone averages for the same category fell from 4.59 per cent to 4.37 per cent.
Corporate lending rates
For business loans up to €1 million, interest rates in Cyprus showed a slight decline to 5.58 per cent in October, down from 5.62 per cent in September.
The data revealed that Alpha Bank Cyprus posted the highest rate at 9.04 per cent, a sharp increase from 6.35 per cent the previous month.
At the other end of the spectrum, Ancoria Bank offered the lowest rate at 4.80 per cent, a modest decrease from 5.02 per cent in September.
The average rate for all new business loans, including renegotiations, dropped to 5.45 per cent, compared to 5.59 per cent in September.
Across the eurozone, business loan rates also fell, with the average declining to 4.83 per cent from 5.03 per cent.
For larger loans exceeding €1 million, Cyprus saw a notable decrease in average interest rates, which dropped to 4.72 per cent in October from 5.26 per cent in September.
Similar declines were observed in the eurozone, where the average fell to 4.58 per cent.
The highest rate in Cyprus for this category was recorded by Eurobank at 5.24 per cent, while the National Bank of Greece (Cyprus) reported the lowest at 4.07 per cent.
Deposit rates
The data also revealed a downward trend in deposit rates for households in Cyprus. The average interest rate for new term deposits up to one year fell to 1.76 per cent in October from 1.98 per cent in September.
Comparatively, eurozone rates dropped to 2.74 per cent from 2.97 per cent.
Household deposit rates varied significantly among institutions. The National Bank of Greece (Cyprus) offered the highest rate at 2.48 per cent, while the Bank of Cyprus reported the lowest at 1.32 per cent, despite a small increase from 1.19 per cent the previous month.
Eurobank registered the largest drop, with rates declining to 2.07 per cent from 2.83 per cent in September.
Deposit rates for businesses showed a modest increase, rising to an average of 2.19 per cent from 2.14 per cent in September.
However, these rates remained significantly lower than the eurozone average, which stood at 3.06 per cent in October.
The highest rate for business deposits in Cyprus was reported by Astrobank at 3.11 per cent, while the Housing Finance Corporation offered the lowest rate at 1.01 per cent.
The original article: belongs to Cyprus Mail .
