Rate on new mortgages rises for sixth month running, to 3.06%. Deposit rates see their biggest rise since 2023
The average interest rate on new home loans rose to 3.06% in September, the sixth monthly rise in a row and the highest since April 2025, the Bank of Portugal (Banco de Portugal) reported. Entirely new contracts averaged 3.07%, and renegotiated existing ones 3.05% (ECO).
Only four eurozone countries now have cheaper new mortgages than Portugal; the eurozone average is 3.62%. In September banks granted €2,171 million in new mortgages. Renegotiated existing mortgages came to €587 million, €81 million more than in August and the first increase in five months. Consumer loans, by contrast, became slightly cheaper, at 8.83% a year.
Deposit rates are rising too, and faster: new fixed-term deposits paid an average of 1.82% a year in September, up from 1.63% in August. This is the eighth monthly rise in a row and the biggest single-month jump since October 2023 (ECO). Even so, the eurozone average for deposits is 2.37%, and Portugal is still sixth from bottom. Almost all new deposits (95%) are for terms of up to a year.
Anyone taking out a mortgage now will pay more for it than in the spring; anyone with money in the bank may earn more on it if they compare what different banks offer.
