The European Mortgage Federation (EMF) is pleased to announce the publication of the 2016 edition of Hypostat, which is its main statistical study encompassing data on recent developments in housing and mortgage markets in Europe and beyond. The 2016 edition, covering the year 2015, presents data and analyses for the 28 Member States of the European Union, as well as data from seven additional countries: Australia, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Russia, Turkey and the United States.

Key facts revealed by Hypostat 2016 include:

1. House prices grew in most EU countries year-on-year, although the situation across different countries remained highly fragmented. Nonetheless, the rate of decline experienced by some countries seems to have slowed down.
2. Housing supply indicators remained roughly at the level of 2009, with the exception of the number of building permits, which continues its timid positive trend since in 2014.
3. Total outstanding lending in the EU increased year-on-year, surpassing for the first time the EUR 7 trillion mark.
4. Interest rates on mortgage loans continued their overall downward trend. In some cases, there were signs indicating that a lower bound was reached and rates either remained constant or timidly increased. The market mix for fixed and variable mortgage interest rates remains highly fragmented in the EU.

Commenting on the publication of Hypostat 2016, Luca Bertalot, EMF-ECBC Secretary General, said:

“The mortgage markets of the “Old Continent” continue to represent an essential cog in the macroeconomic mechanisms supporting the real economy. As Hypostat shows, EU housing and mortgage markets are also assessing how to respond to new and fundamental challenges in the form of the influx of migrants into the EU and the need for private investment to improve the energy efficiency of the EU’s housing stock. All of these elements demonstrate the crucial social role that mortgage credit plays in providing a way for households to invest long term and ensure wealth conservation for the future.”

The publication of Hypostat is the result of a collaborative effort by EMF national delegations and external experts. Hypostat 2016 as well as the earlier editions of the publication can be downloaded for free via the EMF website.

Contact:

Daniele Westig
Economic Adviser
Tel: +32 2 285 40 40
dwestig@hypo.org

Notes to the Editor:

Established in 1967, the European Mortgage Federation (EMF) is the voice of the European mortgage industry, representing the interests of mortgage lenders and covered bond issuers at European level. The EMF provides data and information on European mortgage markets, which were worth over EUR 7.0 trillion at the end of 2015. As of September 2016, the EMF has 19 members across 14 EU Member States as well as a number of observer members.

In 2004 the EMF founded the European Covered Bond Council (ECBC), a platform bringing together covered bond issuers, analysts, investment bankers, rating agencies and a wide range of interested stakeholders. As of September 2016, the ECBC has over 100 members across 26 active covered bond jurisdictions and many different market segments. ECBC members represent over 95% of covered bonds outstanding, which were worth nearly EUR 2.5 trillion at the end of 2015.

In June 2014, the EMF and the ECBC came together to form the Covered Bond & Mortgage Council (CBMC), which replaced the European Mortgage Federation as the legal name under which both entities operate, although in practice, both the EMF and ECBC brands are maintained and used to identify the two areas of focus within the CBMC’s scope.

The Covered Bond Label Foundation (CBLF) was established in 2012 by the EMF-ECBC. The Covered Bond Label website became fully operational on the 1st of January 2013, with the first Labels being effective since then. As of September 2016, the website features 14 National Transparency Templates, 77 issuer profiles and information on 91 labelled cover pools. The Covered Bond Label website currently provides issuance data on over 4,200 covered bonds, amounting to a total face value of over 1.4 trillion EUR, out of which over 2,000 covered bonds already include information on the Liquidity Coverage Requirement (LCR).

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