Brussels, 13/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - Only 1% of Europeans, most of them buying second homes or those living in cross-border areas, have taken out loans in another Member State. It is very low compared to the economic weight exerted by the real estate market. In 2002, loans for housing accounted for EUR 4 trillion, 40% of the European Union's GDP in fifteen Member States. Formed in 2003, the real estate experts' group has just submitted its conclusions for setting up a genuine European housing market. It has put forward 48 measures in the areas of consumer confidence, legislative and financial obstacles and freedom of settlement. The Commission will present a specific communication on the matter in mid-2005.
Consumer confidence is a preliminary condition for setting up an integrated market in mortgages. It order to obtain it, it appears necessary to create the conditions for better comparing complex products and getting over the language and legal barriers, particularly in the context of consumer protection. Experts recommend harmonising national provisions on calculating interest rates and mortgage payments.
The experts group is calling on the Commission to encourage information exchange between Member States in working out national cadastral rates and data bases for loans. Recommendations aim to facilitate housing loans and include the "Euromortgage" on which the Commission is seeking further investigations. The report also analyses the possibility of setting up a second flexible mortgage loan market and making existing mechanisms more effective.
National mortgages for house buying is not subject to any specific European level regulation. Only a Commission recommendation for setting up a code of conduct on pre-contractual information on loans for house-buying exists.