Mortgages could be more expensive

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Banks can increase their mortgage rates, even though the key rate will remain unchanged for now.

 

Norges Bank has kept its key rate a at record low of 0.5 percent since March 2016, and experts expect it to remain low for now.

Nevertheless, banks will soon be able to increase mortgage rates because it will be more expensive for banks to borrow money.

“As costs for the banks are now rising, we expect that their customers will be affected, such that the customers get increased interest rates on their loans,” says chief economist Kari Due-Andresen in Handelsbanken to NRK.

Although interest rates may be rising both in Norway and internationally, experts have the opinion that, historically speaking, it will be cheap to borrow money for a long time.

“Despite the interest rate hikes, real interest rates appear to be able to remain at a low level for the next three years,” wrote Statistics Norway (SSB) in March.

Norges Bank has its next interest rate meeting on Thursday and it is expected that the central bank will make sure the policy rate is unchanged.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today