The average cost of new home mortgages in Italy eased to 4.42% in December, while the cost of corporate loans continued to rise, data from banking association ABI showed on Tuesday.

The average rate on new home mortgages was of 4.50% in November. ABI's Deputy Director General Gianfranco Torriero told a media call it was the first proper drop in 24 months, while other apparent falls over this period were caused by changes in the relative weight of floating and fixed-rate mortgages.

The average cost of new loans to businesses stood at 5.69% last month, up from 5.59% the month before, ABI said. (Reporting by Valentina Za and Stefano Bernabei; editing by Cristina Carlevaro)