Radio

Irish mortgage rates experienced fall in February - C103

Fri 14th Apr 2023

New figures from the Central Bank show that the average interest rate on a new mortgage has decreased, meaning Ireland once again had the third cheapest mortgage rates in the Eurozone in February.

Daragh Cassidy, Head of Communications at bonkers.ie, appeared on C103 to discuss the findings.

Listen back to the interview above or check out the main points discussed below.

Key points from the interview

There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the main banks here have been really slow at passing on the European Central Bank’s (ECB) rate increases in recent months. The ECB may soon increase rates again.
Having had the most expensive rates for quite a long time, having the third cheapest rates is a stark contrast.
On the other hand, savings rates are still very poor.
The ECB’s main lending rates are at 3.5%, but will probably go up to 3.75% when the ECB meets in May. We may even see the rate go up to 4%.
Even if the ECB didn’t increase rates, we’re probably due a catch-up here with some of the banks. Fixed rates have only increased by about 1.5% to 2%. Variable rates have barely changed at all.
If you have a mortgage already, you can get in touch with your lender to see what other rate options are available with them. You may not even need to switch lenders.
If you have a tracker mortgage, you may want to get in touch with a financial advisor to advise you on whether you should stay on it or switch.
The best savings rate at the moment is 1.5% from Permanent TSB, which isn’t even very good. With inflation at over 7% still, any money people have won’t make much. Then we also pay Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT), on any of those gains.
This ties into why mortgage rates here are still so low. The banks are using any deposit money they have to lend mortgages cheaply to other people. However, savings rates here are some of the worst in the Eurozone.
The banks will come under some pressure over the next few months to improve savings rates.
In some banks in Europe you can get savings rates of over 3%.
An option for people in Ireland is Raisin. It’s an online platform that gives you access to savings rates that are available elsewhere in Europe.

Get your mortgage through bonkers.ie

Whether you’re a first-time buyer, a home mover, or are looking to switch your mortgage to a better rate, you can find the best mortgage interest rates and incentives across all the main lenders in Ireland in just seconds with our mortgage tool.

When you decide it’s time to apply for a mortgage, you can schedule a callback through our free mortgage broker service and one of our experienced financial advisors will call you to get your application started. They will be there every step of the way through your mortgage journey - with no extra cost to you as a customer!

Don’t forget, lenders also require that you have home insurance and mortgage protection insurance in place before drawing down your mortgage, both of which you can also get right here on bonkers.ie.

We can also find the best rates for energy, broadband, and other insurance and banking products and apply straight through bonkers.ie.

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