Wednesday, 22 April 2026
Mortgage activity in the Czech Republic increased significantly in March, with banks and building societies issuing loans totalling CZK 55.4 billion, according to data from the Czech Banking Association. This represents a 37 percent rise compared with February and a 69 percent increase year-on-year.
New lending, excluding refinancing, reached CZK 40.3 billion, up 36 percent month-on-month. At the same time, the average mortgage interest rate edged down slightly to 4.43 percent from 4.46 percent in February.
“The frontload factor of lower interest rate and more welcoming conditions for investment mortgages are likely to translate into strong March numbers,” said Jaromír Šindel, chief economist at the Czech Banking Association. “The first reason reflects the reverberation of the central bank’s New Year’s price rate decline, while March with the Iranian price shock reversed the trend. The second reason is the April activation of the central bank’s stricter rules for investment mortgages.”
The number of newly issued mortgages rose by 30.7 percent from the previous month to 8,381, marking a 25 percent increase compared with a year earlier. The average loan size also grew, reaching CZK 4.81 million, nearly 4 percent higher than in February and 19 percent above last year’s level.
Refinancing activity also picked up. The volume of refinanced and increased loans climbed to CZK 15.1 billion in March, more than double the average monthly level recorded last year. As a result, refinancing accounted for 27.3 percent of total mortgage volumes, above the 2025 average of 20.7 percent.
Households refinancing their loans secured an average rate of 4.16 percent, around 0.5 percentage points lower than a year earlier. According to the association, the higher refinancing volumes reflect overlapping fixed-rate periods from both earlier low-rate environments and more recent higher-rate cycles.
The slight reduction in mortgage rates compared with 2025 levels has had a limited impact on affordability. The average monthly payment for a newly issued mortgage increased by approximately CZK 2,800 due to larger loan sizes, although lower rates reduced payments by around CZK 400. Monthly repayments now average about CZK 25,600 for a typical loan with a maturity of nearly 27 years.
“March was very successful from the point of view of mortgages and one of the factors of this success is the price,” said Petr Gapko, chief economist at Moneta Money Bank. “It was very favorable in March, but it is expected to grow in future months. Geopolitical events are to blame, because the Iranian conflict is raising fuel prices, which will result in higher inflation and probably higher interest rates.”
Source: CTK
