Mortgages, the value of disbursements grows again: +4.1% in nine months

First rate effect on the mortgage market and on overall consumer credit disbursements. The value of overall real estate mortgages disbursed to households returned to growth of +4.1% in the first nine months of the year, thanks to a recovery in home purchase mortgages and continued growth in subrogation transactions. Consumer credit also grew by 7.2% over the same period in 2023. This is what emerges from the fifty-seventh edition of the Observatory on Retail Credit by Assofin, Crif and Prometeia .

Driving the sector, also in the European market, were personal loans (+11.2%) and financing for the purchase of motor vehicles and motorbikes provided to private individuals at dealerships by captive and multi-product operators (+7.8%). Financing aimed at the purchase of other goods/services (such as furniture, electronics and household appliances) managed to replicate the previous year's volumes, also thanks to the contribution of 'small ticket' financing in support of eCommerce. In addition, 'instalment' operations - a function that allows the financing of one or more expenses through a pre-established amount and a pre-defined repayment plan - favoured the slight recovery in the value of credit card instalments (+2.2%). Lastly, the positive trend in loans to pensioners and private employees supported the disbursements of salary/pension assignments, which cancelled out their decline (-0.2% in the first nine months of 2024).

On the mortgage front, the value of real estate mortgages rose again (+4.1%). In detail, disbursements of mortgages for purchase (at +14.2% in the third quarter) rose by +1.2% in the first nine months of the year, also thanks to the offer of green mortgages. The value of subrogated mortgage volumes also continued to show a marked upward trend (+59.1% in the period under review).

After the two-year period 2022-23 - characterised by the loss of purchasing power and the rise in interest rates - in 2024 the quality of credit to households was under control, despite the slight increase in the default rate (1.4% in September). More specifically, as regards consumer credit, according to the Crif, Assofin and Prometeia Observatory, there was a moderate increase in risk indicators in the first nine months of the year. The increase was driven by personal loans, while the credit quality of car purchase loans remained stable. The default rate of other non-motor purpose loans also rose slightly. By contrast, in the real estate loan sector, credit quality remained high and broadly stable.