Italy divided in two on the cost of loans to buy a house: mortgages are cheaper in the North, while interest is skyrocketing in the South and Islands. This is what emerges from an analysis by Fabi, according to which the rates charged by banks are higher for Italian families living in the South (Abruzzo, Basilicata, CalabriaCampania, Molise and Puglia) as well as in Sardinia e Sicily: those who reside in those two geographical areas, in fact, pay higher average installments than those who live in the rest of Italy. In the Islands, the average interest rate is 4.23% and in the South and Islands it is 4.18%, against the national figure of 4.10%.
Households residing in the northern areas, on the other hand, enjoy more favorable mortgage conditions: in the North-West the average rate is 4.09%; in the North East, on the other hand, the average rates are the lowest in Italy, ie 3.99%. «The territorial differences on the cost of mortgages depend on some risk factors: – explains the secretary of Fabi, Lando Maria Sileoni – the South and the Islands are, unfortunately, further behind economically than the North.
The numbers of business bankruptcies or economic difficulties are numerically more significant and families find it difficult to pay the installments of loans and mortgages. For banks, the risk factor is therefore greater, even if in recent times there is more willingness on the part of credit institutions and more sensitivity than before to the problems of families and businesses”.
Wages eaten up by interest, shock for families
A percentage point of the salaries of Italian families is “eaten” by interest rates on mortgages, loans and consumer credit. The share of installments with respect to disposable income went from 9.50% in 2019 to 10.55% last March and, given the subsequent increases in the cost of money, this percentage is destined to rise. This is what Fabi estimates, which in a report on rates speaks of a ‘financial shock’ coming to families and of income gradually being eroded.