INE counted 43,372 mortgages on homes in Spain in July 2026, 3.5% fewer than a year earlier. The average loan rose 10.9% to 180,785 euros, a record high.
The record average came as the number of new loans fell. Data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística shows that buyers who still needed mortgage finance were taking on larger debts.
INE also recorded 61,417 home sale transactions in Spain in July 2026, down 5.1% year on year. That decline puts weaker mortgage activity in the wider context of a housing market with fewer completed sales but still elevated prices.
Fewer mortgages were signed, but each loan involved more money than ever before. The figures point to continued pressure from home prices even as buyers remained active in the property market.
July brought a moderate cooling in housing finance, not a broad collapse. The cost for buyers who need a loan kept rising.
The fall in signatures may have more than one cause: there may have been fewer completed purchases, or a larger share of buyers may have paid in cash and avoided mortgage debt. The available figures do not show which factor had the stronger effect.
In June 2026, INE recorded 45,907 mortgages on homes, with an average size of 178,365 euros. July’s average of 180,785 euros so marked a impressive month-on-month increase, even as the number of new signatures fell year on year.
Mortgage figures do not cover every property transaction. Buyers who can pay without borrowing are part of the wider housing market, but they are not counted among newly signed home loans. ABC and Idealista, reporting on INE figures, also described July sales as high by historical standards despite the annual fall. The market remained active.
Interest rates offered a more stable signal. The average rate on new home mortgages was 3.01%, below earlier highs and pointing to a credit market moving towards normalisation.
The Bank of Spain reported that the 12-month Euribor stood at 2.855% in July, higher than a year earlier. Financing costs so remained impressive for borrowers with variable-rate loans.
Bank of Spain and European Central Bank statistics put mortgage lending rates at around 3.5% in June and July 2026. The stock of mortgage credit grew by 3.0% year on year in July. Borrowing costs had stabilised, but finance was not exceptionally cheap.
The rate data and the record loan size show different sides of the same market. Credit conditions eased from previous peaks, while home prices continued to push the amount borrowed higher.
For households, the pressure is plain. Fewer people took out mortgages, but those who did committed to larger sums. July showed how property prices remain the basic barrier to easy housing finance.
The INE figures show fewer financed purchases alongside record-sized loans. High prices and affordability are shaping who can buy and how much they must borrow.
Transaction volumes cooled as loan principals grew, while borrowing costs stayed fairly stable. The Spanish housing market remains active but is becoming harder to enter.
