Germany mortgage rates rise to 4.01% in August 2026

The average interest rate charged by banks on new mortgage lending in Germany was 4.01% in August 2026, according to the Deutsche Bundesbank. The figure covers new business across all interest-rate fixation periods. It compares with 3.94% in July 2026, a rise of 0.07 percentage points on the month, based on Housing Market Group calculations from Bundesbank figures.

Looking at the months before, the Bundesbank series shows an average of 3.84% in April 2026, 3.93% in May 2026, 3.95% in June 2026 and 3.94% in July 2026. The rate moved up between April and May, then stayed in a narrow range over the early summer before climbing again in August. The August 2026 reading is the highest of the months covered in this comparison.

Over a longer stretch, the increase is also visible. According to the Deutsche Bundesbank, the average rate on new mortgage business stood at 3.71% in August 2025. Housing Market Group calculates that the rate in August 2026 was 0.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier, based on Bundesbank figures. Households taking out a new home loan from a bank in August 2026 therefore faced a higher average borrowing cost than those who signed in August 2025.

Comparing Germany with Spain puts the German level in context. According to the Banco de España, the average rate on new bank mortgage lending in Spain was 3.07% in August 2026, below the German average for the same month. However, rates in Spain rose faster over the year: Housing Market Group calculates an increase of 0.38 percentage points between August 2025 and August 2026, based on Banco de España figures, compared with the rise of 0.3 percentage points recorded in Germany over the same period. Both markets saw borrowing costs on new mortgages go up year on year, with Germany starting from and remaining at the higher level.

The Bundesbank measure reflects rates agreed on new contracts rather than the rates paid on existing loans, and it averages across all fixation periods. Shifts in the mix of short and long fixation periods chosen by borrowers can therefore also influence the headline figure. Taken together, the data for August 2026 show German mortgage rates edging higher on the month and standing above their level of a year earlier, while remaining above the average recorded in Spain.