New pressure on variable interest housing loans: Some installments increased by more than 100 euros in six months

Households using variable interest housing loans in Portugal started to see the effect of the rising Euribor on their monthly installments.

According to calculations made by Jornal de Notícias on different loan amounts, the monthly payment increase in some housing loans has exceeded 100 euros since the end of February.

The increase is especially evident in variable interest contracts with high loan balances and where the interest rate has been recently recalculated.

In an example of 200 thousand euros, the increase can exceed 120 euros

The remaining loan balances of 50 thousand, 100 thousand and 200 thousand euros were taken into account in the calculations.

In the scenarios used, monthly payments were in the range of approximately 211-867 euros at the end of February, but increased to approximately 228-991 euros with the latest Euribor levels.

In the highest scenario, the difference exceeds 120 euros per month.

Sample loans with an approximately 1% spread on Euribor were used in the calculations.

For this reason, the figures do not show the fixed increase that all mortgage holders will experience, but the effect of the interest rate movement on different loan sizes.

Euribor is not reflected in the installment immediately

Interest on variable interest housing loans is generally calculated based on Euribor + the bank's spread.

However, the daily movement in Euribor does not change the loan installment the next day.

Contracts based on 3-month Euribor are renewed every three months, those using 6-month Euribor are renewed every six months, and those using 12-month Euribor are renewed once a year. is being calculated.

For this reason, even two households with the same amount of loan debt may pay different installments in different months.

Those in the fixed interest period are not directly affected

If the initial fixed interest period continues in mixed interest loans, which have become widespread in Portugal in recent years, the current increase in Euribor is not immediately reflected in the monthly installment.

In fully fixed interest mortgage contracts, the Euribor movement does not change the installment during the current fixed period.

The most directly affected group are households whose variable interest loans are entering the recalculation period.

What should borrowers check now?

Three pieces of information are particularly important in the contracts of variable-rate mortgage users:

Euribor maturity, next interest rate revision date and spread applied by the bank.

For example, if a loan linked to 12-month Euribor has been updated recently, it may be months before a new change is made. A loan whose revision date is approaching may be affected by the current Euribor level in a shorter time.

Using Banco de Portugal's mortgage loan simulator, the new monthly payment can be calculated based on the remaining principal, interest rate and maturity.

Resources

Jornal de Notícias — 29 September 2026

https://www.jn.pt/economia/artigo/prestacao-da-casa-aumentou-mais-de-100-euros-desde-o-inicio-da-guerra-no-irao/18131481

Banco de Portugal — Interest on mortgage loans rates

https://clientebancario.bportugal.pt/pt-pt/taxas-de-juro-no-credito-habitacao

Banco de Portugal — Mortgage loan simulator

https://clientebancario.bportugal.pt/pt-pt/credito-habitacao