Cash increases mortgage rate

A Federal Savings Bank raised the interest rate of one of its main mortgage lines. According to simulations carried out on the bank’s website, the rate charged on financing for customers with a relationship with Caixa and salary account rose from 7.35% in October to 8% in November.

The increase was observed in the Referential Rate financing modality. In this credit line, the customer pays a pre-defined interest rate, plus the TR, which is currently zero. This is the credit line most used by customers seeking mortgage loans.

A CNN contacted Caixa to confirm the adjustment and ask if there are expected increases in other lines. The bank only confirmed that one of the financing lines would in fact be readjusted, but said it would soon send an official note detailing the increase.

With the increase in the rate, from 7.35% to 8.00%, a buyer would pay R$ 43 thousand more to finance a property worth R$ 700 thousand, with a down payment of R$ 270 thousand. The simulation was made by Daniele Akamine, a specialist in real estate law, and the calculation considered a term of 360 months.

Caixa was the last of the large banks to carry out the adjustment of interest rates on real estate financing after the recent hikes in the Selic rate. Until March of this year, the basic interest rate was at 2%, since then, it had six readjustments in a row and is currently at 7.75% per year.

The lawyer also raised the rates charged in July and November in the five largest banks in the country.

which line to choose

Among the available financing options — TR, savings, IPCA and fixed rate — Daniele Akamine believes that the most advantageous is the rate with TR correction.

“Even with this increase in the interest rate, the financing corrected by the TR is still the best option, since the predictability of the value of the installments, as well as the outstanding balance is maintained.”

The specialist explains that, in the current scenario of rising interest rates, the options corrected by savings and the IPCA may be more risky.

Savings yield 70% of the Selic, so the modality linked to the passbook should become more expensive in view of the forecasts for an increase in interest rates – economists are already talking about an 11% Selic next year. And inflation has been exceeding expectations.

“The fixed rate modality is even more predictable than the TR financing, but the over-the-counter rate [para clientes sem relacionamento] is at 9.75% in Caixa. As the TR has been zeroed since September 2017, the line corrected by TR is more worthwhile today”, explains Daniele.

The specialist also observes that for every one percentage point of reduction in the interest rate on real estate financing, around 1 million families become eligible for financing. “When the rate increases, on the other hand, fewer people have access to credit to buy their own home”, he concludes.