Homeowners face a €587 a month hike as they roll off their fixed rate mortgage Avant Money’s head of mortgages sees huge cost shocks in store – and his firm is positioning itself to take advantage of situation Around €9bn worth of mortgages are set to roll off of relatively low fixed rates in the next three years and onto higher ones, according to an analysis of Central Bank data. The analysis by Avant Money, […]
Average mortgage rates fall for third month in a row Mortgage rates have fallen for the third month in a row despite no major reductions in lending rates by the main banks. The average rate being paid for a new mortgage in December was 4.19pc, a decrease of 0.06 percentage points from the previous month. However, this is up 1.5 percentage points from a year previously. The decline in rates in December has been attributed […]
Mortgage holders hit by rate hikes can now claim tax credit from Revenue Homeowners hit by mortgage rates hikes last year will be able to claim tax relief on their payments from today. The new scheme was announced in last October’s Budget and enables any mortgage holder that paid an increased rate last year to claim up to €1,250 in a tax credit. PAYE workers can get the credit through Revenue’s MyAccount service. But they […]
Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant explained: the pros and cons of scheme made famous by ‘Room to Improve’ architect Dermot Bannon Interest in vacant and derelict rural houses has increased massively thanks to the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant. In the context of a severe housing shortage, soaring urban rents and the mainstreaming of remote work, the abandoned cottage on a half-acre at the end of a boreen suddenly becomes very attractive as a home, a home […]
First Home Scheme What is the First Home Scheme? The First Home Scheme (FHS) is an affordable housing scheme, which supports you to buy a new home or to build your first home. The FHS is a shared equity scheme. This means that the government and participating banks pay up to 30% of the cost of your new home in return for a stake in the home. If you want, you can buy back the […]
Record high €8.8bn first time buyer mortgages approved in November First-time buyers represented more than 61 per cent of the total volume of mortgages during November. The number of first-time buyers being approved for mortgages hit historic levels at the end of last year, new data from the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has shown. The trend has come amid an overall slowdown in mortgage activity. In November 2023, a total of 4,202 mortgages […]
Central banks will struggle to hold hard line as the economy slows Interest rate cuts are on the cards sooner than anyone thought, but don’t expect a return to the super-low rates of old. Finance Minister Michael McGrath said yesterday he expects a reduction in the European Central Bank’s main borrowing rate – which has been at a euro era high of 4.5pc since September – as early as the first half of next year. […]
Rising mortgage rates mean the savings that homeowners can make by switching their mortgage have doubled in the past six months. Mortgage rates being charged by conventional lenders have breached the 7pc barrier for the first time in over a decade. This means some households may be paying a record of up to €7,000 in extra repayments a year by not switching lenders, according to the latest Irish Independent/Doddl.ie mortgage switching index. At the start […]