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Mortgage Update | Insights from Q1 2021

Utrecht, 18 May 2021 – Mortgage revenue has grown to €40 billion in the first quarter of 2021, that's an increase of 36,2% compared to the first quarter of 2020. Mortgage revenue also increased by 3,7% in comparison to the fourth quarter of 2020, which can be considered unique given the usual annual dynamics of the mortgage market. The number of mortgages provided has grown by 27,2% relative to the same quarter in 2020 and grows to 129.000 in the first quarter of 2021. Especially remarkable is the fact that the number of mortgages for new homeowners has risen sharply.

‘The 3,7% growth in mortgage revenue this quarter in comparison to previous quarter is mainly driven by the increase in mortgage revenue of new homeowners,’ according to Joppe Smit of management consulting firm IG&H. The number of mortgages for new homeowners has increased significantly compared to the previous quarter, while other mortgage applicant types showed a decrease in the number of mortgages. Furthermore, a continued rise in the average mortgage loan size contributed to the growth of revenue. In the first quarter of 2021, the average mortgage loan size grows to €360.000, an increase of 3,8% in comparison to the fourth quarter of 2020.

Strong growth in the number of new homeowners

In the first quarter of 2021, the number of mortgages provided for new homeowners has grown by 64% relative to the first quarter of 2020. This means that the number of mortgages for new homeowners rises to 30.000 and the mortgage revenue of new homeowners is €10 billion in the first quarter of 2021, which represents 25,1% of total mortgage revenue. The fall in the transfer tax from January 1st for new homeowners plays an important role in this. ‘Anticipating on the fall in transfer tax, new homeowners have postponed the purchase of their house, which can be seen in the fall of the number of new homeowners in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the sharp rise that followed in the first quarter of 2021,’ according to Joppe Smit. ‘Besides, new homeowners appeared to be more successful in purchasing a house, in contrast to before: the increase in the number of new homeowners in the first quarter was considerably higher than the decrease in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Market share of banks continues to grow

Banks have expanded their market share to 58,3% in the first quarter of 2021. ING has shown the strongest growth in market share this quarter, followed closely by Florius, which contributes strongly to the growth of the banks in market share. On the other hand, Rabobank loses market share after the sharp increase in the previous quarter. In the top 10, the top 4 remains unchanged, but outside of this many changes are happening. Munt decreases two spots to the 7th place for example while a.s.r. rises two spots, and thereby secures 8th place.

Joppe Smit, Director at IG&H E: joppe.smit@igh.com T: 06 20 35 24 38

Author & data-analysis IG&H mortgage update:

Annelies van Putten-Stemfoort (annelies.vanputten@igh.com) & Joren de Bont (joren.debont@igh.com)

Revision of Kadaster information on mortgages

Kadaster has renewed the methodology behind the mortgage data. As a result, the number of reported private mortgages increases and the reported mortgage values decline. IG&H reports about the renewed data in this update about Q1 2021, the data from 2019 and 2020 are adjusted with retroactive effect. Comparisons in this report are made based on the renewed data. A further explanation will be given at the end of our Mortgage update (in Dutch).





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