The average mortgage interest rate at banks is 11.81%.

In contrast, several borrowers claim that their previously negotiated (old) home loans are still high. In the financial market, financing is governed by risk, i.e., not only by a customer’s ability to pay at a given time, but also by the user’s age, the duration of the financing, and other indicators that the bank analyzes before giving the go-ahead.

Compared to October of this year, the mortgage rate in local banks shows a virtually imperceptible increase for new businesses. On October 28, 2025, it stood at 11.27%, and on November 5, negotiations closed at 11.81%, 11.69%, 12%, and 9.49%, in the latter case for a loan with a preferential rate.

According to BCRD statistics, the rate ranges for the mortgage and/or development sector were 11.13% and 9.75% in February they were 11.03% and 9.91%, in March 11.83% and 9.81%, in April 11.84% and 10.07, in May 12.14% and 10.9%, in June 12.11 and 10.97%, in July at 12.43% and 10.49%, in August at 11.63% and 10.59%, in September at 11.27% and 10.02%, and in October at 11.27% and 9.24%.

However, in October, some customers with old loans that had operated at a fixed rate for a specific term received notifications of increases, as the loans were closed during a real estate fair. One of these customers said that he was paying a monthly installment at a fixed rate of 9% for three years, which expired last September, and was increased to 13.5% in October, at market rates.

The increase, the buyer said, has caused instability in his finances, and he must accept it to avoid falling behind, defaulting, or losing his home. He advocates changing the methodology for such increases because, as with his family, there are others in similar situations.

As of October 28 of this year, commercial rates were 13.27% in commercial banks, and 18.60% for consumer and/or personal loans. Meanwhile, the preferential rates applied that month were 11.02% on average, 11.14% for commercial loans, 12.39% for consumer and/or personal loans, and 9.24% for mortgages.

Savings and Loan Associations (AAyP) closed negotiations on the same date with mortgage interest rates of 13.13% and 12.14%, and average rates of 13.65% and 12.54%.

Meanwhile, in October 2024, they were 13.78% and 11.71%; on the same date in 2023, they were 12.68% and 10.35%; in 2021, they were 9.69% and 7.93%; and in 2022, they were 11.41% and 10.60%.

The BCRD indicates that the lending rate fell from 15.3% to 13.9% in the same period, indicating that the monetary policy transmission mechanism continues to function.

The weighted average deposit rate for multiple banks stood at 6.6% and the lending rate at 13.9% in October 2025.

Factors

In the construction sector, this is an activity with significant economic mobility, as the authorities themselves recognize that for every job created in the area, at least seven are generated in related activities, which in turn boost the economy.

As of September, the construction sector declined by 2.0%, according to the BCRD. The decline in the sector, therefore, affects the economy. One crucial issue in the operation is the lending rate in the financial system, which is transmitted almost immediately because there are prior negotiations with depositors or investors who are paid deposit rates.

The Monetary Policy Rate is now 5.25% per annum, which should be reflected in at least three to four months.

Other market factors influence interest rates, including the rise in the exchange rate, possible uncertainties due to tax changes, liquidity programs through the legal bank reserve, and rises or falls in the Federal Reserve (FED) reference rate and the BCRD Monetary Policy Rate.

The BCRD indicates that the weighted average deposit rate for commercial banks stood at 6.6% and the lending rate at 13.9% in October 2025.

Likewise, on Thursday, the BCRD published an analysis reporting the release of RD$81 billion for different productive sectors, including MSMEs, of which RD$54 billion has been released from the legal reserve, and RD$13 billion is still available, which will allow for continued credit expansion and lower interest rates to finance productive activity.

As of October 31, 2025, 84% of the authorized amount under this liquidity program had been placed, totaling RD$68 billion, the BCRD reported.

Of the resources released from the legal reserve, RD$21.528 billion went to the commerce sector and RD$11.993 billion to construction.

RD$8.864 billion went to the MSME sector, RD$3.655 billion to manufacturing, RD$1.212 billion to agriculture, and RD$806 million to exports. “The disbursements include RD$3.678 billion for the acquisition of low-cost housing by low-income families and RD$2.632 billion for mortgage loans in general,” he adds.

In a study by Italo López on the effect of interest rate transfers in the Dominican market, “evidence of asymmetry in the evolution of rates with respect to monetary policy movements” is determined.

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Liquidity program

As of October 2025, according to the Central Bank, the weighted average of commercial bank lending rates had fallen from May 2025, the month before the adoption of the liquidity program.

The average lending rate fell from 14.99% in May 2025 to 13.95% in October, a 104-basis-point decline. This decrease has been more significant in the lending rates of the productive sectors benefiting from the measures, with a drop from 14.35% in May to 13.13% in October of this year, a downward adjustment of 122 basis points.