Bank margins are slightly increasing in the third quarter, continuing the trend from the second quarter. The average bank margin for the bulk of new loans is 239 basis points. This is four basis points higher than in the second quarter, and the last time we had such a high bank margin for the bulk of loans was in the second quarter of 2013. 

Since the last survey, the 5-year swap rate has increased by 0.6 percent. If one locks in the interest rate for five years, the majority of new loans have a financing cost of 6.7 percent. This is the highest level we have measured since we started the bank survey. A typical loan with a 3-year maturity and a 50 percent loan-to-value ratio has a total borrower interest rate of 6.6 percent.

Do you want to know more about the findings from the banking survey? Please contact Robert Nystad at nystad@union.no or 906 19 758.