UVA mortgage lending recovers for a fourth straight month as FGS holds first bank-funding auction

UVA mortgage lending in Argentina showed another month of recovery in August, just as the financial market awaited the launch of one of the government’s main measures to revive long-term financing.

Banks disbursed $242 million in UVA-denominated mortgage loans during the month, according to the latest Empiria report based on Central Bank data. That represented an increase of nearly 20% from July, when lending stood at about $202 million, and marked the fourth consecutive monthly improvement. Compared with the recent low of $116 million in May, monthly lending had more than doubled within three months.

The rebound remains incomplete. August’s disbursements were 22% below the level recorded in the same month of 2025. The gap was wider in the number of transactions: 3,100 mortgages were completed in August, compared with 4,252 a year earlier, a year-on-year decline of about 27%.

The year-to-date figures show a similar weakness. About 17,400 mortgages were granted between January and August, against 25,500 during the same period in 2025. That leaves lending roughly 32% lower year on year, even as the market expects around 30,000 loans to be issued during the full year.

Two conditions moved in borrowers’ favor in August. Empiria said the average rate on disbursed mortgages edged down to 6.9%, while the average term extended from 23 years in July to 23.3 years. A lower rate reduces the initial cost, and a longer term spreads repayment over more installments, lowering the initial payment and the income needed to qualify. The recovery follows a sharp decline from $372 million in October 2025 to $116 million in May, after which lending climbed back above $200 million.