Interest in mortgages high, despite the pandemic

In June, 7,621 people received a housing loan - the most since November 2018.

The average interest rate continued to fall for the third month in a row. It now stands at 2.21% and is the lowest since January 2018. The volume of provided mortgages increased to almost 21 billion crowns.

In the first half of the year, volumes reached 109.5 billion crowns - falling only 9 billion short of the record first six months of 2017.

"Should banks keep this pace up, the volume of provided mortgages could rise again above 200 billion this year after reaching this sum between 2016 and 2018. So far, it seems the coronavirus crisis did not hit the mortgage market too hard. However, there is still a risk of a second wave, so it is too early for forecasts," said Fincentrum & Swiss Life Select analyst Jiří Sýkora.