It didn’t take long for Norway’s commercial banks to boost their lending rates after the central bank, Norges Bank, raised its policy rate again on Thursday. First out was Sparebank1 Nord-Norge, which followed along with a quarter-point rise.
News service E24 reported that Sparebank1 would boost new home mortgage loans from Monday (March 28) and from May 6 for current mortgage customers. Other banks were due to follow.
Norges Bank announced a potential series of seven rate hikes by the end of next year, to keep inflation under control. It expects current mortage rates will double from current levels of around 2 percent to around 4 percent in 2024. Its economists also predict that Norway’s high housing prices will level out and even dip as a reaction to higher lending rates. Some think that’s a good thing, to cool down a hot real estate market.
newsinenglish.no staff
