Jyske, Denmark’s third-largest bank, has announced fixed mortgages of up to 10 years with an interest rate of -0.5%.
This in theory means that the bank is paying borrowers to take money off their hands. In practice, borrowers will be repaying their mortgage monthly as usual, but their outstanding debt will reduce by more than they pay in.
However, lenders will not be ‘making’ money by taking out a loan, as there are also other fees and associated costs to be paid, explains the bank’s housing economist Mikkel Høegh, and the negative interest affects the deductions that can be made against your mortgage payments.
