In March, 12 percent of SBAB's customers chose to fix the interest rate on all or part of their loans, compared to 5 percent in the bank's last survey in December.
This is probably a consequence of the perception that there has been more economic unrest in the world, combined with the fact that the difference between variable and fixed interest rates has been relatively small, Hasselvik says.
During the latter part of March, mortgage lenders, including SBAB, increased fixed mortgage rates, citing rising market interest rates as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.
This has made it a little more expensive to commit to a fixed rate now than it was at the beginning of March. At the same time, the economic situation is still very uncertain, which means that people may be more inclined to fix their rates.
“Never too late”
For those considering fixing the interest rate, it would have been better to act before the increases.
But if you are unsure and have small margins, it is never too late to commit to a fixed rate, Hasselvik says.
The question is whether the trend will continue in April and May.
I think there will be more people signing up than we have seen in recent years, but perhaps not as many as in March.
And the customers of the big banks?
Handelsbanken does not have separate statistics for new customers in March. At the end of the month, approximately a quarter of mortgage customers had a fixed interest rate.
It is unclear what the situation is among the other major banks. Nordea and SEB declined to provide figures. Swedbank refers to its quarterly report, which will be published at the end of April.
"On an overall level, a clear majority still choose variable rates. However, we have recently seen a development where slightly more people have chosen to fix their loans," writes Swedbank's press manager Hannes Mård in a comment.
