Capital market · Interest rates
Interest rates: mortgage rates, federal bonds and key rate
Effective interest rates for housing loans by interest fixation, new business volume, term structure of federal securities and ECB key rate – with interest spreads and the relationship to property prices.
Data as of: 10 Oct 2026 · updated daily from the time series databases of the sources
Key figures
Current interest rates
Financing
Mortgage rates
Effective interest rates of German banks on new business housing loans to households (Bundesbank MFI interest rate statistics), monthly.
Mortgage rates by interest fixation
% p.a.
- variable or up to 1 year4.40 %Aug 2026 · +0.22 percentage points vs. prior year
- over 1 to 5 years4.03 %Aug 2026 · +0.48 percentage points vs. prior year
- over 5 to 10 years3.81 %Aug 2026 · +0.25 percentage points vs. prior year
- over 10 years4.04 %Aug 2026 · +0.31 percentage points vs. prior year
Mortgage rates overall and annual percentage rate
% p.a.
- Housing loans overall4.01 %Aug 2026 · +0.30 percentage points vs. prior year
- Annual percentage rate (including costs)4.05 %Aug 2026 · +0.29 percentage points vs. prior year
New business housing loans
€ million per month
- New business volume17,891 € millionAug 2026 · approx. −4.5 % vs. prior year
Mortgage rates, federal bonds and ECB key rate
% p.a.
- Mortgage rates over 10 years4.04 %Aug 2026 · +0.31 percentage points vs. prior year
- Yield on 10-year federal bonds3.60 %Sep 2026 · +0.87 percentage points vs. prior year
- ECB key rate2.65 %Sep 2026 · +0.50 percentage points vs. prior year
Interest spread: mortgage rates minus federal bond
Percentage points
New business and interest rate level
€ million
- New business volume, € million (left)17,891 € millionAug 2026 · approx. −4.5 % vs. prior year
- Mortgage rates over 10 years (right)4.04 %Aug 2026 · +0.31 percentage points vs. prior year
Premium for long interest fixation
Percentage points
Capital market
Federal securities and key rate
Yields on federal securities derived from the term structure, with annual coupon payments (monthly values), and the ECB main refinancing rate.
Yields on federal securities by remaining maturity
% p.a.
- 1 year3.04 %Sep 2026 · +1.08 percentage points vs. prior year
- 2 years3.24 %Sep 2026 · +1.23 percentage points vs. prior year
- 5 years3.36 %Sep 2026 · +1.09 percentage points vs. prior year
- 10 years3.60 %Sep 2026 · +0.87 percentage points vs. prior year
Yield on 10-year federal bonds since 1972
% p.a.
- Yield on 10-year federal bonds3.60 %Sep 2026 · +0.87 percentage points vs. prior year
Yield curve: 10 years minus 2 years
Percentage points
ECB key rate since 1999
% p.a.
- Main refinancing rate2.65 %Sep 2026 · +0.50 percentage points vs. prior year
Real interest rate: federal bond minus inflation rate
Percentage points
Effect
Interest rates and property prices
Mortgage rates and house price index
% p.a.
- Mortgage rates over 10 years (left)4.04 %Aug 2026 · +0.31 percentage points vs. prior year
- House price index (right)100.6Q2 2026 · approx. +0.6 % vs. prior year
Federal bond and office property price index
% p.a.
- Yield on 10-year federal bonds (left)3.60 %Sep 2026 · +0.87 percentage points vs. prior year
- Office price index (right)87.7Q2 2026 · approx. −1.2 % vs. prior year
Context
Interest rates in valuation
The market value is determined under § 194 BauGB by the price that could be achieved in the ordinary course of business on the valuation date. Decisive are the general value conditions on the valuation date: the totality of circumstances relevant to price formation, such as the general economic situation, capital market conditions and the economic and demographic developments of the area (§ 2 para. 2 ImmoWertV). They enter the valuation procedure through the input data and the market adjustment (§ 7 ImmoWertV).
§ 2 para. 2 ImmoWertV expressly names capital market conditions as part of the general value conditions. Capital market interest rates are, however, not the property yield (Liegenschaftszinssatz): this is derived under § 21 para. 2 ImmoWertV from purchase prices and net income of similar properties and contains market participants' expectations on rents, risks and value development. The relationship is nevertheless close: when financing costs and alternative yields rise, buyers demand higher initial yields, and the property yields derived from new sales cases rise with a delay.
- If there is a marked interest rate movement between the evaluation period of the property yields and the valuation date, the suitability of the data must be checked and any adjustment justified (§ 9 para. 1 ImmoWertV).
- In mortgage lending value assessment, capitalisation rates under the BelWertV apply; they are meant to reflect the long-term market development and deliberately do not follow short-term interest rate changes.
- For valuation under IFRS 13 and for discounted cash flow methods, the federal bond yield is the starting point of the discount rate.
Background: Why mortgage rates rise: key rate, federal bonds and inflation.
Questions and answers
Frequently asked questions
Briefly answered, with source reference.
How high are mortgage rates currently?
The effective interest rate for new housing loans with interest fixation over 10 years was 2026 % in Aug 4.04, and 4.01 % across all fixation periods (Bundesbank MFI interest rate statistics, new business). The statistics are published with a delay of about six weeks; current offers of individual banks differ.
Why do mortgage rates follow the federal bond and not the key rate?
Banks refinance long-term loans mainly through covered bonds (Pfandbriefe), whose yields follow the federal bond of the same maturity. The key rate affects short maturities and only indirectly long ones.
Is the mortgage rate the property yield?
No. The property yield is a market variable derived from purchase prices (§ 21 para. 2 ImmoWertV) and is published by the expert committee. For residential property in sought-after locations it is often below the mortgage rate.
What does an inverted yield curve mean?
Short-term investments yield more than long-term ones. This occurs when the market expects falling key rates.