A stable, well-functioning financial market for allA stable, well-functioning financial market for allThe Swedish Mortgage Market 2015
Finansinspektionen monitors the mortgage market and household indebtedness closely, and the mortgage survey is an important part of that process. The survey for 2014 shows that the average loan-to-value ratio and debt-to-income ratio was unchanged between 2013 and 2014, despite rapidly increasing house prices.
The average loan-to-value ratio is approximately 67 per cent and the average debt-to-income ratio is 366 per cent. The mortgage cap has dampened household indebtedness and unsecured loans have become less common since 2013. Out of the new loans in the survey, unsecured loans account for less than 1 per cent.
In recent years, loan amortisation has become increasingly common and all households with unsecured loans amortise. In 2014, 68 per cent of all households with new loans amortised them, which is a clear increase from 2011, when only 42 per cent did so. 9 out of 10 households with loan-to-value ratios above 70 per cent amortise while it is only 4 out of 10 households with loan-to-value ratios of 50–70 per cent that amortise.
Since households with loan-to-value ratios above 50 per cent might react more strongly to economic shocks, FI has proposed an amortisation requirement in order to assure that these households decrease their leverage over time. FI's proposed amortisation requirement, which encompasses households with new loans and loan-to-value ratios above 50 per cent, will entail a further increase in amortisation.
FI's stress tests show that the households generally have sound margins in their finances, both today and under worse conditions. The stress tests show household resilience towards both an increase in interest rates and towards a loss of income following unemployment. Resilience has improved considerably compared with 2013, even if the effect of lower interest rates is disregarded.
