Who abstottert his home in francs or yen, has a problem. The euro’s weakness makes for rising costs of loans. Source: press photo
FRANKFURT. The letter from her bank was Katharina Fröhlich * to doubt whether their home financing was as clever as they thought four years ago. The woman had received 130 000 €, but in Swiss francs. To do this you had advised a financial intermediary. Because the interest rates in Switzerland at that time were only about half as high as in Germany. And also showed the euro exchange rate upward. So they put interest savings and eradication in a unit-linked pension and speculated that a stronger euro reduced at maturity of about 20 years overdue loan debt further.
The letter from the banker has shaken this speculation now thoroughly. Depreciation of the euro, so read the landlady from southern Germany now do special repayments required. Otherwise, one must negotiate new loan terms. Because the debt had increased suddenly to over 143 000 €.
The euro’s weakness, which has now also noticed Katharina Fröhlich, lays the weakness of foreign currency loans for financing open house relentlessly. It is a foreign exchange speculation, which can quickly spiral out of control. Who does not have enough capital to possibly bear rising rates, bet his property.
In addition, foreign currency loans are knitted so that contribute more leverage, can exacerbate everything. The interest rate is variable, changing so often quarterly, and the loan’s maturity date, that is, is repaid in 20 years or later. The assumed interest rate savings with which foreign currency loans are schöngerechnet flow, meanwhile, in a fund or life insurance. Whether the income from rich to relieve the credit is questionable. "There is much schöngerechnet" Consumer advocates complained the Stuttgart Niels Nauhaus.
Klaus Fleischer, a finance professor at the University of Munich, warns: "A foreign currency loan is a very complicated product with many risks. For the average mortgage lender is not it good enough now." Especially because such loans have the opposite of planning. First, interest rate risk, currency risk will be added and the investment risk because the borrower pays so rather than pay off continuously into a fund or an insurance policy. Thus, such constructions are worth, especially for the mediators, mock consumer protection. Not more than for real estate buyers with strong nerves and a thick wallet in a foreign currency financing are space in question, is an expert firm Fleischer.
About ten years ago foreign currency loans came into vogue. In Germany, the demand for foreign currency loans, however, is relatively small. Includes your share is estimated by industry experts in the low single-digit percentage of the total real estate loans, which represents approximately one trillion euros. Austria, where the proportion is about one-third limit, currently an award of foreign currency loans.
This method of financing had attracted mainly wealthy homeowners, such as doctors or lawyers. The speculation was the middle of the decade, a good time. The interest savings were high and the strong euro. But since the financial crisis, the interest rate spread between the yen or Swiss franc and euro loans mortgage has become so small that risk is disproportionate to the expected savings, as mortgage lending expert Dirk Scobel from the Consumer Hamburg warns. Only a few tenths of a percent is the interest rate differential to the euro-loan. Five years ago there were still two to three percentage points. Therefore, banks and brokers are in this country have become extremely cautious, as confirmed as the Berliner Hypoport AG, which operates an Internet financial marketplace. Finance Professor Fleischer says: "Those who have completed five years ago, a Franken-loans can only hope that the euro will rally."
Tags: euro exchange rate, maturity date, currency loan, currency loans, consumer advocates
