Average mortgage interest rate rises to 5.4 percent

The average interest rate for new mortgages granted in July rose to 5.4 percent from five percent in June, according to statistics from the Czech Banking Association's Hypomonitor, which collates data from all banks and building societies providing mortgages on the Czech market. The last time the interest rate was that high was mid-2010.

Banks and building societies provided CZK 11.9 billion worth of mortgage loans in July, which is a decrease of more than a third from June. The number of newly granted mortgages also decreased by a third.

Financial analyst Michal Skořepa told the Czech News Agency that if there is no further escalation of the problems with gas and food supplies, then inflation and national bank interest rates should be close to their peak at the moment, which means that interest rates on new mortgages should also see a slight decline in the coming months.