These loans are becoming a thing of the past. Not only Poles don’t want them

ByValeska
Polacy rezygnują z takich hipotek – podobnie jest w prawie całej Europie

Poles are increasingly less likely to choose housing loans with variable interest rates. What is the situation in other European countries?

Housing loans with variable interest rates are much less popular in Poland today than they were 4-5 years ago.

– At the end of the last decade, browsing data on the type of interest rates on new housing loans in Poland was very boring. The “share of loans with variable interest rates” always showed a result of 99% or even 100%. As you know, the situation is different now – explains Andrzej Prajsnar, expert of the RynekPierwotny.pl portal

Floating interest loans – EMF statistics

Experts from the RynekPierwotny.pl portal decided to compare the situation in Poland with other countries for which data from the European Mortgage Federation (EMF) are available. The latest EMF statistics are for the first quarter of 2025.

– The lack of newer results is not a big problem, because the structure of housing loan sales does not change dramatically from quarter to quarter – notes Andrzej Prajsnar.

Variable rate home loans in Europe

The latest report by the European Mortgage Federation shows that at the beginning of this year the share of new housing loans with variable interest rates (set for a maximum of 12 months) was:

  • Belgium – 2 percent

  • Czech Republic – 13 percent

  • Denmark – 30 percent

  • Finland – 95 percent (result from Q2 2024 – no newer data)

  • France – 3 percent

  • Greece – 24 percent

  • Spain – 9 percent

  • Netherlands – 16 percent

  • Germany – 12 percent

  • Poland – 21 percent

  • Portugal – 26 percent

  • Romania – 29 percent

  • Sweden – 78 percent

  • Hungary – 20 percent

  • Great Britain – 7 percent

  • Italy – 9 percent

Decreasing popularity of variable interest loans in Europe

Analyzing historical trends, it can be seen that the restriction on taking out housing loans with variable interest rates does not apply only to Poland. In Italy, at the beginning of 2023, such “floating-rate” loans accounted for almost half of banks’ sales.

– Of course, be aware that such mortgages can be structured differently. For example, in Finland, borrowers can pay extra for the installment limit. This solution, chosen by every fifth housing borrower, ensures that despite the variable interest rate on the loan, the monthly payment will not exceed a certain level, comments Prajsnar.

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