Loans on the rise (+ 21% y / y) and mortgages substantially stable in Italy in 2022. The first 9 months of the year confirm a picture of light and shadow relating to the demand for credit by Italian families, conditioned by a situation of continuing uncertainty caused by the conflict in Ukraine and the rise in rates and inflation. This is highlighted by a CRIF report.
Specifically, according to the latest analysis of the CRIF Barometer, the number of loan requests (personal and finalized) shows a growth of + 21.7% compared to the corresponding period of 2021. With regard to just the month of September just ended, loan requests grew by + 12.2%.
At the same time, the average amount requested amounted to 8,313 Euros, down by -6.1% compared to the first 9 months of 2021, confirming the growing tendency to use a loan also to support purchases of a limited amount, such as telephony, small appliances and electronic products.
If we look at the cross-section of finalized and personal loans, they continue to grow in double figures and with the same intensity: the former increase by + 21.3% while the latter mark a + 22.4%.
On the other hand, as regards the trend in requests for real estate mortgages and subrogations, since the beginning of the year there has been an overall contraction of -22.6% compared to the first nine months of 2021 (-25.5% the decrease in the month of September) but it should be noted that the negative performance of the sector is attributable to the vertical collapse of subrogations which, according to the latest survey produced by CRIF, decreased by -61.9% compared to 2021 and now have just over 8.5 % of the total.
New mortgages, on the other hand, remained substantially stable with respect to the corresponding survey, so much so that at the level of disbursements the decline stood at a modest -1.7%.
On the other hand, in the first 9 months of 2022 the average amount of loans requested increased by + 4.7% compared to the corresponding period of 2021, reaching € 144,658.
“The demand for loans from households does not yet seem to have started to feel the effects of the uncertainty and tensions that characterize the economic and geopolitical scenario and in these first 9 months of the year they have marked a decisive recovery compared to the volumes recorded in 2021 , when the sector was still affected by the direct effects of the pandemic. With regard to mortgages, however, it is necessary to make a fundamental distinction: the overall decline in requests is to be attributed to the sharp slowdown in subrogations, which had characterized the previous two years thanks to particularly affordable rates, while new mortgages are recording a substantial estate ”- explains Simone Capecchi, Executive Director of CRIF.