Negative interest rates are both gone and here at the same time.

Many commentators are talking about the end of negative interest rates in nominal terms and it’s true, interest rates are rising but in real terms they are still negative. Look at mortgage rates (for instance), you can borrow at 3% and below and meanwhile you have property price appreciation at 15% meaning that in real terms you are paying -12%.

If you can ever get something on a continuous basis at -12% that indicates ‘buy’, and that’s what people are doing, but notice that we mentioned ‘continuous’, the reality is that there is no arbitrage most of the time and this will be closed down by either rising costs, falling prices or some other outcome that we can’t forsee. Trees don’t grow to the sky, they never have and never will so the trajectory of house prices must rationalise but it’s hard to see how or where at present because the demand side seems so demonstrably strong.

I bumped into Kieran McQuinn on Pearse Street today and in our brief chat mentioned how the price changes are not sustainable, he …

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Nuremburg property market

Nuremberg isn’t known as a significant real estate location even though it has been the economic and cultural centre of Northern Bavaria for years. But lower prices than in more prominent German cities, make buying property in Nuremberg a good investment.

The property market is growing steadily which can be seen in a renewed high level of real estate transaction volume in 2021. At EUR 1.39 billion, the sales volume was indeed about a tenth below the previous year’s figure, but it was still slightly above the average of the last five years. The top position was taken by the segment of institutional housing with a generated transaction volume of around EUR 525 million. The surpassing of last year’s figure by +6% is an indicator to a continuing interest in residential investments in Nuremberg.

The office segment showed a contradictory development in 2021 with only EUR 286 million or 61% less than the previous year due to a lack of opportunities.  Since there were no large-volume sales (above EUR 100 million) observed the highest office transaction amounted to almost EUR …

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The Frankfurt property market (Germany)

Frankfurt am Main is growing – as a stable business location, internationally important financial centre and European transportation hub. The largest city in Hesse attracts numerous young workers, older financially strong couples, but also foreign customers. For several years now, Frankfurt am Main has been one of the cities in Germany with the highest population growth. Since 2014, the number of inhabitants has risen by 7.1 per cent to almost 760,000. Given their economic importance, mass migration and associated housing demand are unlikely to decline in the foreseeable future.

Frankfurt am Main is also one of the nationwide leaders when it comes to vacancy rates for residential properties. The Main metropolis has a vacancy rate of only 0. 3 per cent, which is ahead of the already low figures in Stuttgart (0. 5 %), Hamburg (0. 5 %) and Berlin (0. 8 %). The continuing excess demand for housing in Frankfurt am Main has led to a steady rise in the average rent in the Main metropolis for years. However, a distinction must be made here between existing …

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German mortgages explained

In the legal sense, a mortgage is the right with which a bank or building society secures a mortgage loan. The mortgage secures a plot of land with or without buildings. It is one of the liens on real property and is regulated in the German Civil Code (Section 1113 BGB).

If the builder fails to meet his obligations under the loan agreement, the bank can apply for foreclosure. It can use the proceeds from this to repay the construction loan. Usually, you can only cover a part of the purchase price of your desired property with your own funds. The greater part is financed by a mortgage. This means a loan from a bank, which is secured by the property. How to get a mortgage in Germany

Let your customer advisor advise you on all aspects of real estate purchase. There are various contact points in Germany for this purpose. Depending on your life situation, it is appropriate to first contact the house bank. Various financing proposals are measured by how good the customer’s liquidity is.

After the financing …

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What is the Difference between Mortgage in Ireland and Other Nations in Europe?

Buying a house is always a person dream as compared to renting a room to live in. All countries have different mortgage structure that favors both investors and people that desire to buy or invest in real estate. When comparing the mortgage in Ireland to other European counties, many often say that it is expensive to pay the rates in Ireland than in well developed countries like France and Britain.

When making comparison, it should be noted that mortgage rates in some countries are lower due to their financial stability and the creditworthiness of their creditors. Other factors that affect mortgage rates include bond markets, monetary policies, economic growth, inflation, and the general state of the property market. Market prices tend to rise as they become more stable.

To start with, the reason many experts think that mortgage finance is higher in Ireland is because by international standards, Ireland has a shockingly low level of home possessions. In most European countries, if a loan goes bad, the bank will take possession of the property within a year, which obviously …

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What are the Factors Influencing Housing Demand in Ireland?

Ireland has had a vast history when it comes to development and economic boom. In the late 1990s and the 2000s, the country’s housing demand rose as many sectors, including the government, showed interest in construction and housing projects, such as bank credit, salary solid growth, and rapid house prices. However, the economic recession of 2008 saw a significant collapse in house demand and supply that lead to a restriction on mortgage loans and pricing rates. In recent years, the price has improved, and demand has also increased but at a slower pace as compared to the late 20th-century growth chart. The following are some of the factors that have influenced the demand and supply of housing and mortgage in Ireland: –

Incomes and Employment. The income distribution has a significant impact on housing demand. The housing affordability problems for some in income distribution would be compounded if there was an unfair distribution of income and unemployment. Population growth. As the number of inhabitants increases in Ireland, the demand for housing also increases as many look for shelters to …

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How COVID-19 is accelerating the path to a cashless society

The usage of checks and cash has been in a decline for quite some time, and that trend has continued over the last four years. With the growing usage of credit and debit cards, as well as the growth of fintech, cash is becoming more and more obsolete. In recent years, fintech payment platforms such as venmo, paypal, and cashapp have contributed greatly to the growth of digital banking payments in Ireland and around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic created a new demand for these type of payments, as many businesses required contactless payments and online commerce greatly increased. The latest figures from BPFI’s payment monitor reflect this growing shift in payment methods. 

 

On March 15th 2021, Banking and Payments Federation Ireland published the figures from the BPFI Payments Monitor for the fourth quarter of 2020. The data showed a 67% increase in online/mobile banking between 2016 and 2020. It is also interesting to note that in the same four year period, check usage was cut in half. In fact, check usage fell to only 4.8 million in …

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El Salvador Becomes First Country to make Bitcoin Legal Currency

El Salvador has become the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. Officials in the Salvadoran congress voted in a “supermajority” of 62 out of 84 votes. This fulfills president Nayib Bukele’s promise to make bitcoin legal tender alongside the US dollar. 

 

“The purpose of this law is to regulate bitcoin as unrestricted legal tender with liberating power, unlimited in any transaction, and to any title that public or private natural or legal persons require carrying out,” the law reads. Furthermore, the law enables prices to be shown in bitcoin. Taxes can now be paid in bitcoin, and exchanges in bitcoin are exempt from capital gains tax. The government will also be partnering with digital wallet firm Strike to provide an easy and simple to use financial framework based around the cryptocurrency. Jack Mallers, founder of strike, claims that adopting bitcoin could help countries like El Salvador avoid some of the pitfalls of traditional fiat currency, such as excessive hyperinflation, that developing economies are sometimes prone to. 

 

This decision is unprecedented, as no country has yet …

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 How to Choose the Best Mortgage Lenders in Ireland

Currently, there are 10 mortgage lenders in Ireland. These include Ulster Bank, ParmanentTSB, KBC Bank Ireland, ICS Mortgages, Haven, Finance Ireland, EBS, Bank of Ireland, Avant Money, and Allied Irish Banks. All of these mortgage lenders are financial institutions which give home loans to people who aspire to own a home.

You are probably thinking about how to pick the best of the 10. When choosing the lender that best suits your need, the major factor to take into consideration is the amount of mortgage you want to borrow. Each of the 10 mortgage lenders in Ireland will make an assessment of your assets, debt, and credit score, each differently. You should note that the Loan to Value Ration (LTV) is  the most important pieces of information that the lenders will look. LTV is calculated by dividing the money you are borrowing with the property’s estimated value. With the LTV, the lender will be able to understand the risks involved with lending you the mortgage. Normally, the LTV of a loan is 80 percent or less. It is important to …

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Average costs of living in Ireland increasing?

While Irish inflation has been low in recent years—consumer prices increased by only 0.3 percent yearly from 2013 onwards—rapid price rises in particular industries have meant that many customers’ wallets have been pinched more than the official statistic implies. Private rentals have risen by 7% per year during the same time, while health insurance has risen by around 4.5 percent per year. Spending on things like these is consuming an ever-increasing percentage of many people’ incomes. A recurrent finding in the KBC Bank consumer’s take poll is that people feel that their own individual economic condition has not progressed as much as the key Irish macroeconomic factors imply.

Consumer prices in Ireland decreased by 1.1 percent in August compared to the same period last year, and by 0.5 percent on average since March, according to official inflation statistics. This drop, however, does not appear to be reflected in current consumer sentiment. We asked customers to estimate how much their own total cost of housing has risen in the past 12 months as part of the general consumer mood poll for August. Although …

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