Lisbon, Oct. 1, 2025 (Lusa) - The weight of young people in the total amount of new mortgage contracts increased from 53% in August last year to 59% in the same month this year, according to data from the Bank of Portugal.
"Recent benefits for young people's access to their first permanent home have contributed to the growth of mortgage lending," with young people now "having a greater weight in new lending contracts," according to the Bank of Portugal (BdP) in an analysis released on Wednesday.
Thus, between January 2022 and July 2024 the weight of young people in new contracts for the purchase of permanent homes was 44%, while in August 2024 - after the entry into force of the decree-law exempting young people from paying Municipal Tax on Onerous Transfers of Real Estate (IMT) and Stamp Duty (IS) - the weight of young people increased to 53% of the amount of new contracts.
Considering the first eight months of 2025, when the effects of another measure establishing a personal guarantee scheme by the State for young people up to the age of 35 were also felt, young people already accounted for 59% of the amount of new credit for the purchase of permanent homes.
According to the central bank, by August, the cumulative amount of new credit agreements for permanent homes reached €12 billion, compared to €8.2 billion in the same period of 2024.
Young people up to the age of 35 took out mortgages of €7.1 billion of that total, exceeding the €3.5 billion recorded in the same period of 2024.
Borrowers over the age of 35 took out mortgages of €4.9 billion, only €200 million more than in the first eight months of 2024.
Considering the period from January 2022 onwards, the monthly amount of new credit agreements for the purchase of permanent homes reached a low in April 2023 (€598 million) and has been on an upward trend since then.
The average amount of credit granted to young people for the purchase of permanent homes ‘remained virtually unchanged’ between January 2022 ( €136,100) and December 2023 ( €134,700).
However, in 2024, "this figure began to rise", reaching €159,200 in August, following the entry into force of the law exempting young people from paying IMT and IS.
In August this year, the average amount of credit granted to young people for permanent home ownership was €192,600, representing an increase of 43% compared to December 2023.
For borrowers over the age of 35, the average amount of credit granted for the purchase of permanent homes increased less in the same period: from €127,300 in December 2023 to €159,200 in August 2025, corresponding to a variation of 25%.
The data released today by the BdP also indicate that the average price of permanent homes purchased with credit by young people increased by 8% in the first eight months of 2025, from €218,400 in December 2024 to €235,700 in August 2025. In the same period last year, it had risen by 14%.
The central bank notes that the average price of homes purchased by young people remained below that of borrowers over 35 years of age, with this difference increasing in the first eight months of this year.
In August, homes purchased with credit by people over 35 years of age cost, on average, €275,400, €39,800 more than in the case of young people. In 2024, the average difference was €29,000.
Although homes purchased with credit by young people have a lower average price than those purchased by other borrowers, young people obtain a higher average amount of credit, showing that they use less of their own capital.
In August 2025, the average amount of credit obtained by young people represented 82% of the average purchase price of homes, above the 58% observed among borrowers over 35 years of age.
In the first eight months of this year, with the entry into force of the State personal guarantee, that ratio increased by seven percentage points among young people, while for borrowers over 35 it fell by one percentage point.
Considering the stock of mortgage loans, it reached €107.1 billion in August, of which 23% related to contracts with young borrowers, up three percentage points compared to the same period last year.
In August, this stock grew by 8.4% year-on-year, with young people contributing to almost all of the change.
According to the BdP, the stock of mortgage loans has shown positive and increasing annual rates of change since June 2024, with both age groups of borrowers contributing to this acceleration:
The contribution of young borrowers rose from 2.7 percentage points in June 2024 to 8.2 percentage points in August 2025, while that of borrowers over 35 rose from -2.6 points to 0.1 percentage points.
PD/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
