Brazil consumer defaults edge up in June, Serasa says

21 July, 2026

Consumer defaults in Brazil rose again in June after slowing in the previous month, with 50.9% of the country’s adult population holding overdue debts, according to data released by credit bureau Serasa.

Serasa’s latest Delinquency Map showed the number of consumers with negative credit records increased by 0.28% from the previous month.

The average amount owed per indebted consumer reached 6,920.63 reais, equivalent to around four times Brazil’s national minimum wage.

Total outstanding consumer debt stood at 579.5 billion reais, according to the report.

Original Story: Misto Brasil
Edition and translation: Prime Yield

Credit expansion a steady 8%

20 July, 2026

Greek banks have entered the second half of 2026 with strong momentum from loan disbursements, as net credit expansion is estimated to reach €10-12 billion by the end of the year, one of the highest performances of the last 15 years.

A decisive role is played by the disbursements of the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF) resources, which continue to fuel large and medium-sized investment projects, as well as the new generation of financing tools from the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), which seeks to leverage important capital for small and medium-sized enterprises through €2 billion that is expected to be managed from the RRF’s unused resources.

This momentum is confirmed in an analysis by Axia-Alpha Finance, which predicts that loans will grow at an average annual rate of around 8% in the 2026-2028 period, one of the three highest in the eurozone.

According to Axia-Alpha Finance, the development is not temporary, as the Greek economy is still in the phase of restarting bank lending after many years of deleveraging during the financial crisis. Contacts with banks’ managements showed Axia-AF that despite the fact that the RRF is formally ending, the pipeline of projects remains strong, particularly in the tourism, energy and shipping sectors, without a decrease in the demand for loans being observed, so far at least. As it explains, businesses are still increasing investments and financing new projects, covering the large investment gap of the previous decade.

Credit expansion for both 2026 and 2027 is estimated to be supported by the large and medium-sized investment projects that were left out of the RRF (about 390 investment projects with a total budget of €9 billion) and which, according to banking sources, will be financed through conventional bank lending or other financing tools. The transfer of €2 billion from the RRF to the HDB is estimated to act as a safety net for mature investment projects that did not secure a place in the fund, mainly from the pool of SMEs.

Original Story: Ekathimerini | Author: Evgenia Tzortzi
Edition: Prime Yield

Banks step up scrutiny of mortgage borrowers as default risk cases rise

17 July, 2026

Banks stepped up the monitoring of mortgage borrowers throughout 2025, increasing the number of cases opened to identify situations of potential default.

Banks stepped up the monitoring of mortgage borrowers throughout 2025, increasing the number of cases opened to identify situations of potential default. According to the latest Credit Markets Monitoring Report published by the Bank of Portugal, 801,780 cases were opened under the Action Plan for Default Risk (PARI), equivalent to an average of around 67,000 cases per month, covering loan agreements with a combined outstanding debt of close to €20 billion. Compared with 2024, the number of cases increased by around 9%, a trend the regulator attributes to enhanced early identification of customers at risk of financial difficulties, as well as borrowers who alerted their banks to problems in meeting their mortgage repayments.

Despite the increase in preventive measures, the Bank of Portugal found that more than 60% of the cases were ultimately closed after no risk of default was identified. Of the remaining cases, only 0.1% resulted in an agreement to renegotiate the terms of the credit contract, while around 230,000 cases ended without any agreement between the financial institution and the customer.

By contrast, the number of cases opened due to actual default fell again in 2025. The monthly average declined from 8,165 cases in 2024 to 7,846 last year. The Bank of Portugal also highlights that, in most instances, arrears are resolved through the payment of overdue amounts, noting that “the regularisation of default situations occurs predominantly through the payment of overdue amounts, highlighting the decisive role of the customer’s behaviour in resolving them.”

Original Story: Executive Digest | Author: Pedro Zagacho Gonçalves
Edition and translation: Prime Yield

Mortgage Delinquency Rate Drops to Pre-Financial Crisis Levels

16 July, 2026

The health of the mortgage market continues to improve step by step, at least regarding default rates. Mortgage delinquency closed the first quarter at 1.6%, a level not seen since the months leading up to the financial crisis. According to data from the Spanish Mortgage Association (AHE), this represents a two-decimal-point improvement compared to the final quarter of 2025, and a six-decimal-point drop compared to the same period last year. This translates to a 25% year-on-year decline in the delinquency rate.

“This is the lowest level since the period prior to the outbreak of the 2008 global crisis, when delinquency was practically nominal,” the association notes in its report.

This decline is driven by both a reduction in non-performing loan balances and an expansion of the outstanding balance. The total non-performing credit exposure to resident sectors continued its downward trajectory, also dropping by 0.6 percentage points to reach 2.6%.

Consumer Credit and Construction

On the other hand, consumer credit has followed the opposite path. Continuous increases in delinquency since late 2023 have pushed its default ratio to 4%. However, the association points out that this “remains at relatively stable levels and below those observed since 2008.”

There was also a decline in non-performing loan balances within the construction sector (excluding public works), which saw its volume decrease by 17% over the last year. In this segment, the non-performing loan rate dropped from the 8.4% recorded in the first quarter of 2025 to the current 7.1%. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the ratio barely fell by a few hundredths of a percent; however, this trend is not due to an increase in defaults over the last three months, but rather to a contraction in the outstanding loan balance, which acts as the denominator of the ratio.

Productive Activities Show Strength

Meanwhile, credit to productive activities continued its clean-up process following a 13% decline, which pushed its delinquency rate down from 3.7% to 3.1%.

In short, the AHE concludes:

“From an annual perspective, all credit categories within this segment have shown favorable progress in both their non-performing balances and default ratios. In particular, the real estate sector enjoys a relatively solid level of solvency, having moved past the severe deterioration associated with the 2008 financial crisis.”

Hipoges diversifies as Europe’s NPL market enters a new phase

7 July, 2026

In an interview with Jornal Económico, Hipoges General Manager Sofia Costa said the Southern European NPL servicing market has entered a new stage, with significantly lower volumes of non-performing loan (NPL) portfolios available than in the years following the financial crisis.

According to Costa, while banks continue to dispose of distressed assets, transactions are now smaller, more frequent and increasingly diversified, replacing the large-scale portfolio sales that previously characterised the market.

To adapt to this changing environment, Hipoges is broadening its business beyond traditional NPL servicing. The company is expanding into complementary areas such as real estate asset management, property development, valuation, legal services, mortgage brokerage and alternative credit, with the aim of managing the entire lifecycle of distressed assets.

Costa also highlighted the growing role of private credit funds in financing real estate projects and stressed that investment in technology and artificial intelligence is key to improving operational efficiency and supporting the company’s long-term growth strategy.

Original story: Jornal Económico | Data: Maria Teixeira Alves
Edition and translation: Prime Yield

NPL&REO News

Month: July 2026