Credit requests for house purchases are awaiting the arrival of the new law that obliges banks to incorporate stress rate smoothing into the calculation of the stress rate. The decision by Banco de Portugal should come into force at the end of next month or the beginning of October.

Experts consulted by Negócios admit that the processes are on standby until the stress rate takes effect.

However, the warning arrives that with the increase in the granting of credit, the worsening of default may also increase, since although credits may be more accessible initially, there is a risk that they will become more difficult to pay if there are further increases in interest rates.

In any case, specialists say that there should not be "facilitation in the evaluation of banks", since "what is at stake is not to make risky operations viable, but rather, to make it possible to grant credit to people with the correct financial conditions".