The average interest rate on a housing loan repayable in more than 10 years stood at 3.11% in February, according to recent data from the National Bank of Belgium (NBB).
This is the first time since August 2014 that housing loans are so expensive. By comparison, the rate was just 1.43% in February last year.
One of the causes of the hike is the sharp rise in inflation, which led the European Central Bank to raise interest rates in response to the turmoil on the financial market.
The last time the rates were this high was in August 2014 (3.12%). Thereafter, they fell to unprecedented levels, reaching a record low of 1.33% in the spring of 2021.
Early last month, it was already reported that the number of new mortgages had fallen to its lowest level since 2007 in February.
In the first two months of this year, 32,600 home loans were finalised, about half the average for the corresponding period over the past five years.
