RISING RATES

Euribor hits highest level since 2008

THE ongoing rise of the 12-month Euribor (base rate) could cost the average mortgage holder €286 a month.

The Euribor is the most commonly used benchmark for the calculation of home loans in the country, and is currently at a level not seen since December 2008. At the end of January, the 12-month Euribor was at a monthly average of 3.337%, which will mean that an average 25-year mortgage of €150,000, and with an interest rate of the Euribor plus 1.5%, would cost borrowers an extra €286 a month were it to be recalculated based on the January figure. That’s around €3,430 a year.

The rise in January from December was 32 basis points, up from 3.018% that month. Compared to the same month in 2022, the rise is 3.8 points, given that a year ago the Euribor was actually in negative territory, at -0.477%.

The reason that the rate is on the rise – the sharpest since it was created – is thanks to the change in the European Central Bank’s monetary policy.

Last year saw the central lender raise rates