100% Mortgages + Expenses
Since the crisis unfolded, both banks and savings banks have become much more cautious when granting mortgage loans to their clients.
During the boom years, when the real estate bubble was unleashed, most financial institutions offered up to 100% of the property's appraisal value and, in some cases, even more, financing the purchase expenses. However, nowadays, it is common for clients to contribute at least 20% of the property value from their savings.
Despite this, in recent months, due to the decrease in the cost of financing, we can find institutions offering up to 100% of the property's price—not only for properties from their own real estate portfolio but also to clients who request it. For now, this is not a widespread practice, but mortgages with a high loan-to-value ratio are already available on the market.
In general, the current offer is quite limited, though it is expected that offers will increase due to the high competition between financial institutions. Since they can’t differentiate by offering a lower interest rate, they will likely opt to offer a higher percentage of the property's value when granting the loan for its financing.
There are other options when choosing a mortgage, such as fixed, variable, or mixed-rate mortgages. Within these options, many have excellent conditions but come with excessive attachments, and they only end up financing the 80%, which is the most common when talking about mortgage loans.
