Mortgage loan prices: price loss, price hedging and price spread

The price (kurs) of a Totalkredit loan is the price of the bonds that fund a fixed-rate loan. It is especially important when you take out the loan, because it determines how much money is actually paid out to you.

At a price of 100, you receive 100 kr. for every 100 kr. you borrow. At a price of 98, you get 98 kr. in gross proceeds for every 100 kr. of nominal value, before loan costs. The difference between the two prices may sound small, but it adds up to thousands of kroner when the loan is large enough.

A Totalkredit loan is a mortgage loan (realkreditlån) that most Danish homeowners can get through their own bank, because Totalkredit works with 35 banks, savings banks and cooperative banks with branches all over the country. The loan also comes with a discount you should know about: Totalkredit gives Kundekroner, a discount of 0,25 percentage points on the contribution rate up to and including 2029.

Mortgage loan prices and price loss when you take out the loan

When you take out a mortgage loan, the price determines how much is actually paid out to you compared with the loan’s nominal value. The two amounts are rarely identical, and the difference affects your payout here and now.

The price can also change after you have entered into the loan agreement. If the price falls by 2 price points on a fixed-rate loan of 2,5 million kr., that means around 50.000 kr. less paid out to you, even though the debt is exactly the same.

If the price is below 100, less is paid out to you than the loan’s nominal amount. If that leaves you short, you will have to either borrow more or put in more cash yourself.

Price and interest rate: what happens when the rate changes?

The interest rate and the price of a mortgage loan move in opposite directions. When the interest rate rises, the price of the fixed-rate bond falls, and when the rate falls, the price rises.

The bond has to give an investor a return that matches the market here and now. If the market rate has risen since the bond was issued, the old coupon on the bond is worth less, and the price has to come down before anyone will buy. If the rate falls again, the same coupon becomes more attractive and the price rises. That is why a change in interest rates on mortgage loans hits you directly through the price.

The difference between the two rows shows how close to a price of 100 you end up, depending on which coupon you choose. A 4% coupon is priced close to 100, while a 3,5% coupon is priced significantly lower. That is the price you face when you take out the loan, and it determines your gross proceeds.

The current-account rate (foliorente) of Nationalbanken, Denmark’s central bank, is 2,10 % from 11 September 2026. It does not set your mortgage rate directly, but it is a benchmark for the general level of interest rates and helps explain why mortgage loan rates look the way they do.

According to Nationalbanken, the average interest rate excluding contributions (bidrag) on private customers’ new mortgage loans was 3,11 per cent in March 2026, 0,11 percentage points higher than the month before.

If you have a fixed-rate loan, this means the price is not fixed. If the interest rate changes, the price changes, and that affects the value of the loan if you pay it off early, as well as any decision to take out or refinance a loan. If you have a fixed-rate loan from before 2022, your interest rate is probably around 1-2%, and a fall in price hits a newer loan in a very different way from yours.

Price hedging on mortgage loans with a fixed-price agreement

Price hedging (kurssikring), also called a fixed-price agreement (fastkursaftale), locks the price until an agreed payout date, so your payout becomes more predictable. Instead of following the price day by day in the run-up to the payout, you know in advance what your gross proceeds will be.

• The agreement is binding on you, your bank and Totalkredit. If the price falls before the payout, you still get the agreed price. If the price rises, you do not benefit from the rise.

• At Totalkredit, the conditions for payout must be met no later than four banking days before the agreed payout date, and the loan must normally be paid out no later than six months after the date on the loan offer.

• A fixed-price agreement costs a fee of 500 kr. at Totalkredit and 1.000 kr. at Realkredit Danmark. At Totalkredit, a forward deduction or premium (terminsfradrag or terminstillæg) also adjusts the price if the agreement runs for more than three days (source: Totalkredit and Realkredit Danmark, 2026).

Price spread on Totalkredit loans: a cost worth knowing about

The price spread (kursskæring) is a deduction from, or a surcharge on, the price at which the bond is traded. It is a cost that is deducted from the price when the loan is paid out and added to the price when the loan is redeemed by buying back bonds. A price spread is not the same as price hedging. Price hedging is the agreement to lock the price until the payout, whereas the price spread is a cost you pay regardless.

In more concrete terms, the price spread is a deduction from the bond price when the mortgage lender sells the mortgage bonds behind your loan. It happens the moment your loan is funded on the bond market, and the deduction hits the price you get. You rarely see it as a separate line, but it helps explain why the price you are offered does not always match the price you have been following yourself.

The size of the price spread depends on which loan you choose. It matters most on flex loans (flexlån) with short rate periods, because their interest rate is reset more often, so they are traded more often on the bond market. Every time the loan is reset, the bonds behind it have to be sold again, and every trade can mean a new deduction. A fixed-rate loan, on the other hand, is rarely traded, so you will hardly notice the price spread there.

That does not make the price spread irrelevant on a fixed-rate loan. You pay it when the loan is paid out, and again as a surcharge on the price if you later redeem the loan at the market price. Both the contribution fee and the price spread can also change over the term of the loan. Lenders use the price spread alongside the contribution fee, so you cannot compare loans on the contribution rate alone. Two offers with the same contribution rate can turn out very differently, depending on how the price spread is structured.

When you compare loan offers, look beyond the contribution rate and ask about the price spread on Totalkredit loans and on the other offers you have on the table. Ask for the total price, including both the contribution fee and the price spread, and ask how the two parts may develop while you have the loan. It is the only way to see what the loan really costs you over time.

Falling prices and your payout: what to check

A fall in the price hits your payout directly. At a price of 96 on a loan of 2.000.000 kr., only 1.920.000 kr. is paid out. The difference of 80.000 kr. does not disappear, because the debt is still 2.000.000 kr., and interest and repayments are calculated on the full amount. Falling prices and the payout are linked in a way you can feel in your personal finances long after the loan has been paid out.

The price is only part of what a loan costs. Over the full term, interest, contribution fees and charges matter at least as much as the price on the payout date.

Before you sign, there are a few things you can do:

• Compare at least three offers for the same amount and term, obtained on the same day, so you see them under identical market conditions.

• Keep an eye on the APR (ÅOP), as even a small difference can cost tens of thousands of kroner over the term of the loan.

• If you would like a specific loan offer, Brikk can put you in touch with a lender through Brikk’s free home loan service.

The price is not something you can control, but you can learn more about how it affects your particular loan. So compare the offers thoroughly and ask about the price, price hedging and the price spread, so you can make your decision on an informed basis rather than by guessing.