me now give you a brief description of some of the main topics covered in this issue of the report. this issue examines the same external risk scenarios i just described. from the financial stability standpoint, we conclude that the risks coming from the u. s. and the eurozone have subsided, shifting the focus to the chinese economy as the primary source of risk. the report also stresses that if these scenarios come true they may have consequences in chile, given the domestic economic slowdown. locally, corporate indebtedness has increased in gdp terms. companies reporting to the superintendence of securities and insurance ( svs ) are posting relatively high debt levels by historic standards and profitability is shrinking. although these tendencies are consistent with corporate patterns observed in other economies, they do signal a reduction in the sector ’ s resilience to possible sharp adjustments in the economy ’ s dynamic. finally, in the past year, the figures of banking commercial credit repayment have deteriorated somewhat in some of the more pro - cyclical sectors, but on aggregate they are still on the favorable side. bis central bankers ’ speeches the real - estate market dynamic has not changed much from earlier iefs. new home sales are still strong and inventories are low. in this context, various indicators show that housing prices continued to rise in 2013 ( figure 9 ). although the upward trend is generalized across geographic zones, some are increasing faster than others ( figure 10 ). the office space market has increased the vacancy rate, and is expected to increase further as new projects enter the market. still, it is worth mentioning that recent quarters ’ indicators show a slight decline in the percentage of loans that cover a high portion of the property ’ s value, the bank lending survey reports somewhat tightened credit standards and the business cycle has resulted in a slower pace of total lending growth, although mortgage credit shows a smoother trend. i cannot stress too much how important it is for the agents involved to consider when making their investment and financing decisions that the future behavior of prices might take a detour away from recent trends. household borrowing risks remain stable. total household debt rose a little in the last quarter of 2013. in banking debt, there continues to be a shift in composition towards middle to upper income, with faster growth in borrowed amounts than in the number of debtors. repayment indicators for both bank and non - bank providers show no major change, probably because of a change in composition of the consumer portfolio or because a milder

’ speeches of chilean firms ’ investments there. in addition, the first policy rate hike in the united states might trigger a decompression of risk premiums, including the term premiums of foreign interest rates, causing exchange rate fluctuations and increasing domestic long - term interest rates. about our local economy, the report underscores the low level of both short - term and longterm interest rates. in this scenario, please note that the volumes managed in mutual debt funds remain high, which could be reversed in case of an abrupt event of increases in long rates. this risk scenario couples with the reduced relative liquidity of the instruments that make up these portfolios. we have been insistent in the last few reports about the financial situation of local firms. our examination of incoming data reveals a weakening of the sector. on one hand, the debt to gdp ratio, which hovered near 114 percent since the end of 2014, rose to 121 percent in the third quarter of 2015. although a large part of this increase results from the valuation effect deriving from the peso depreciation, its level is high from a historical perspective. moreover, the increase accumulated in the past seven years is high by emerging economies ’ standards ( figure 9 ). on the other hand, although the financial indicators of svs - listed firms have not changed much since our last report, debt is high and profitability is low, historically ( figure 10 ). anyway, various indicators show that the balance sheet exposure of these firms to exchange rate risks has remained low. turning to the real - estate sector, housing sales remain dynamic and prices are on an upward trend, albeit with some moderation lately ( figure 11 ). advance purchases associated with the upcoming tax reform explain the strength of the sector to an important extent. actually, most of the properties sold are either off - plan or in construction phase. the low interest rates on mortgage loans also explain part of this dynamism. the growth in housing prices has been reflected in the dynamics of mortgage loans, which are rising nearly 10 percent annually in real terms, due mainly to an increase in the average debt and, to a lesser extent, to an increase in the number of debtors. notably, although many lending indicators remain stable, such as the loan to value ratio and the debt to income ratio, the share of households with more than one mortgage has increased : from 20 to 25 percent in the last five years. as for office space, the vacancy rate continues to grow