“The banking sector welcomes all regulatory efforts that reinforce predictability for consumers when they take financial decisions,” association chief secretary Levente Kovács said.

“Putting fixed-rate loans at the forefront naturally points in this direction looking at the coming years,” he added.

The NBH on Monday said it would lower the debt-to-income thresholds for mortgage borrowers whose loans have rates fixed for fewer than five years to 25%, and to 35% for loans with rates fixed for periods of at least five years but fewer than ten years.

The thresholds apply to households with steady monthly incomes of under net 400,000 forints (EUR 1,234). For households with higher income, the respective limits are 30% and 40%.

The NBH left the debt-to-income thresholds for mortgage loans with rates fixed for at least ten years unchanged at 50% and 60% for households with net income under and over, respectively, the 400,000 forint mark.

The new thresholds will apply from Oct. 1.

MTI Photo: Marjai János