Following the tightening of monetary policy to control inflation, which led the ECB to raise interest rates and instalments on variable rate housing loans to skyrocket, analysts expect the institution led by Christine Lagarde to maintain interest rates for now, however, drops are forecast for 2024.
"If this cut in the ECB's reference interest rates materialises, Euribor rates should also begin to ease, which will translate into a reduction in instalments payable for variable rate credit, such as mortgages for the purchase of house", says the executive director of the brokerage ActivTrades Europe, Ricardo Evangelista.
This is a possibility also admitted by XTB brokerage analyst Henrique Tomé. In a scenario in which interest rates are not expected to rise further and will remain at current levels for a few months, "the reference interest rates on housing credit, the Euribor, may decline slightly in the first phase, as is currently the case", he said.
However, if the ECB goes ahead with the interest rate cut expected by the market, Banco Carregosa economist Paulo Rosa believes that "from the spring of next year, as housing credits indexed to the Euribor will be updated at lower interest rates, the burden of the monthly instalment will ease family budgets".