Madrid, Sep 27 (IANS): The number of mortgages granted to prospective home buyers in Spain plummeted by 42.7 percent in July when compared to the same month of 2012.

It came after a fall of 42.2 percent in June, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) reported Thursday.

The INE reported that the number of mortgages fell to 13,777 purchases in July, the lowest figure since 2003, and decreased by 26.1 percent in the first seven months of the year, reported Xinhua.

The INE said the average value of home mortgages reached 100,180 euros ($135,200), up by 0.8 percent on July 2012, while the amount of capital loaned fell by 42.2 percent in annual terms to 1.38 billion euros.

Meanwhile, the number of home mortgages fell by two percent on a monthly basis while the amount of capital loaned increased by 0.7 percent, the highest increase over the last five years.

July was the 39th consecutive month of decline which meant that home mortgages have been declining for three years and three months due to the economic crisis and more recently due to the new fiscal measures implemented by the Spanish government.