First-home mortgage in Trieste: the repayment at real rates and the 2026 support schemes

For many people, buying a first home in Trieste means taking out a mortgage. In the province, in the first nine months of 2026, people applying for a mortgage through MutuiOnline asked on average for €149,130 against homes worth €223,015: two thirds of the value.

This guide covers three things. The rate to start from, with a figure you can check. How much you need in the bank before the deed. And the support that exists today, with the conditions in full: the schemes that are real, not the ones people still talk about. At the bottom of the page you can run the numbers on the price you have in mind.

The rate to start from

Adverts show the lowest rate, usually with plenty of conditions. A more useful figure is the average rate on the mortgages banks actually signed. The Bank of Italy collects it and the European Central Bank publishes it, once a month.

In August 2026, mortgages fixed for more than ten years were signed at an average of 3.60% a year (the effective rate without costs, which is the published figure), equal to a nominal rate (TAN) of 3.54% with monthly payments; variable ones at 3.37%, a TAN of 3.32%. According to the MutuiOnline observatory, the average TAN on a 20 to 30-year fixed rate in September was 3.53%: the same level.

Always look at the APRC (TAEG in Italian) as well. The nominal rate tells you what the money costs. The APRC adds the arrangement fee, the valuation, the substitute tax, insurance and payment charges. Two offers are compared on the APRC.

How much the bank lends, and how much you put in

As a rule, the bank lends up to 80% of the value set by its own valuer. You put in the rest, along with purchase taxes, the notary and, if there is one, the agency fee.

An example at August rates: a €160,000 home, bought as a first home, with a €128,000 mortgage (80%) over thirty years at a fixed rate.

• Repayment: about €578 a month.
• APRC: 3.79%, with typical October 2026 costs.
• Savings needed: €32,000 of down payment and about €1,700 of loan costs, plus taxes, notary and agency.

The same home over twenty-five years costs €644 a month: €66 more each month, but about €15,000 less interest in total.

How much should you earn? The Bank of Italy advises keeping the repayment within a third of net household income. For €578 a month you would need about €1,730 net, even across two salaries. That is advice, not a rule: each bank applies criteria of its own.

Fixed or variable

Today a variable rate costs a little less: on the same home, €562 a month instead of €578. The real question is what happens if rates rise. If the rate were one point higher, the variable repayment would be €635; two points higher, €712. The fixed one stays at €578 until the last instalment.

A simple test: for a few months, set aside the difference between your repayment and the one with two points more. If the household budget copes without strain, a variable rate is worth considering.

The support that exists in 2026

The first-home guarantee fund

The State, through Consap, guarantees part of the mortgage to the bank. Today it is reserved for certain people: under-36s; couples married or living together for at least two years where at least one is under 36; single parents with children under 18; tenants of public housing; families with at least three children under 21, within an ISEE ceiling; and, since 3 August 2026, people with a severe disability and anyone who has lived for at least two years with a son, daughter, brother or sister who has one.

The conditions: a mortgage of up to €250,000, a home that becomes your main residence, no other home in your name, not even abroad (with an exception for certain inherited homes), and a cadastral category other than A/1, A/8 and A/9. The guarantee covers 50% of the mortgage. For applications made by 31 December 2027 it can rise to 80%: generally when the mortgage is above 80% of the price, costs included, and your ISEE (the Italian household means indicator) is within the limits (€40,000 in most cases).

In practice the bank can go beyond 80%, up to the full price. On the €160,000 home, a 100% mortgage costs about €722 a month and, by the one-third rule, about €2,170 of net income. With the 80% guarantee there is also a cap on cost: as a rule the effective rate stays within the quarterly average recorded by the Bank of Italy (until 31 December 2026, 4.52% fixed and 4.34% variable), with a margin linked to swap rates that the law allows until 2027.

The fund does not oblige the bank to grant the mortgage: the decision remains the bank's.

The under-36 tax exemptions: over

For purchases until 2023, or until 2024 with a preliminary contract signed in 2023, under-36s with an ISEE of up to €40,000 paid no registration, mortgage or cadastral tax (on VAT they had a tax credit) and no substitute tax on the mortgage. Those exemptions have expired and, as of October 2026, have not been renewed. If someone presents them as current, ask which law provides for them.

The regional guarantee

Friuli Venezia Giulia can stand as guarantor for the share of the mortgage above 80% of the value, capped at €42,500. For a home worth up to €170,000, the mortgage can therefore reach the full value. It can be combined with the fund and other support.

The main conditions: living in the region for at least two years, earning an employment income and owning no other home; the mortgage must run between 10 and 30 years; the home cannot exceed 150 square metres of usable space and must be in energy class F or above. Applications go through the banks that signed the agreement, before the deed.

The regional first-home grant

It is a non-repayable grant: €10,500 for a purchase (€15,500 in wholly mountain municipalities), plus €4,500 if you are under 36. It applies to homes up to €200,000 and 120 sq m in the land registry, with an ISEE up to €30,000, at least five years of residence in the region out of the last eight, and a mortgage of at least ten years covering at least half the cost.

Two details matter. The application is made online before the deed. And the grant is paid after the purchase, following a waiting list: in mid-October 2026, applications submitted up to 30 June had been funded. Do not count on it for the down payment.

Tax relief on interest

If the home is your main residence, each year your tax return gives back 19% of the interest paid, on up to €4,000: up to €760, split between the borrowers. Substitute tax, arrangement fee, valuation and the mortgage notary also count. Above €75,000 of income, extra limits apply.

The energy class matters for the mortgage too

Many banks charge less interest to buyers of homes in class A or B: among the offers compared in October 2026, the discount ranged from zero to almost half a point, with a median of 0.20 points. It is up to each bank, there is no state incentive behind it, and each one chooses the classes it accepts.

The regional guarantee also requires at least class F: a class G home does not qualify. Before falling for a home, check its energy performance certificate.

What to do this week

1. Get your ISEE calculated: without it, you do not know which support you are entitled to.
2. Run the calculation below on the price you have in mind, and also try the variable rate with two points more.
3. Ask two or three banks for the European Standardised Information Sheet (ESIS, PIES in Italian): it shows the repayment, APRC and costs of a real offer. Compare them on the APRC.
4. Ask each bank whether it takes part in the first-home fund and the regional guarantee.
5. If you qualify for the regional grant, apply before signing the deed.
6. Have the purchase offer state that it only stands if the mortgage is granted: how, in offer, preliminary contract and deed.

The calculation below is a first estimate based on public data, not a mortgage offer. TriesteImmobiliare is not a bank and does not broker mortgages: whether to lend is for the bank alone to decide.