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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Has Covid-19 Permanently Changed the Work Landscape?

The government says so. In a time where so many people in Ireland and across the globe have switched to remote working due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, employers and employees alike have been forced to adapt. With more than a year of remote working under their belts, people have been able to observe the many benefits and drawbacks that come with remote working.

 

Now, the Government’s National Remote Work Strategy aims to encourage remote working after the pandemic. The government says its main objective is to “ensure remote work is a permanent feature in the Irish workplace” in the future.  In this strategy, the government breaks down what it believes to be the benefits and challenges that come with working remotely during a pandemic. There are several benefits, including improving work/life balance, more time spent with children and family, and reducing the amount of time spent commuting. However, there are several challenges, particularly when it comes to mental health of employees. In a virtual workspace,  employees  often experience feelings of isolation, loneliness, and stress. Another benefit is the …

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All island rail proposal for Ireland

On April 7, 2021, Ireland’s Transport Minister Eamon Ryan came forward with Northern Ireland’s Minister of Infrastructure, Nichola Mallon, to announce an upcoming review of a proposed “all-island rail network.” This review will entail looking into various ways can improve connectivity between major cities and support regional development; additionally, the feasibility of the use of high-speed rail will be considered. The aim of these improvements is to boost sustainability and bolster economic growth across the entire island. Rail freight is also hoped to see better results.

Successful implementation of this proposal could have other benefits as well, such as reducing emissions from automobiles and mitigating regional economic imbalances on the island. Further, the project could lead to the creation of new jobs, both during and after its duration.

The next step for ministers is to find experts to conduct the review.

Though this proposal came jointly from Ministers of both the Republic and Northern Ireland, of particular focus is the northwestern region of the island. It is thought that this area has generally fallen behind in railway connections compared to …

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How Brexit might impact Ireland going forward

As of 31 December, 2020, the transition period of the UK’s exit from the EU has ended, and Europe is now left to deal with its economic fallout. General consensus seems to be that the move will ultimately prove harmful to the UK and the EU, including Ireland. In fact, Ireland will likely be more affected, as it is more exposed to its effects than others due to the intensity of trade between the two. Costs associated with that trade will undoubtedly increase, as the UK is Ireland’s second-largest training partner, accounting for 14% of Irish exports and 26% of imports, second only to the U.S. Brexit will necessitate additional steps in conducting said trade. Trade between the two is already said to have fallen substantially. To get around this, some businesses have been going through Northern Ireland.

Trade with the rest of Europe will also be made more complicated post-Brexit. Shipments from Ireland to the mainland have often gone through the UK historically. Now, Irish businesses have had to find and arrange for new routes. At present, these new …

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The legacy of the “Double Irish” loophole

The “Double Irish” was one of the most notorious tax loopholes, used by large firms for decades since the 1990s. It was base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) method used by many notable entities, including but not limited to Apple, Google, Microsoft, and more. Though closed in 2014, the loophole remained open to firms already using it until 2020. Even since its closure, there are concerns that firms that had used it previously will just shift to using different methods. Overall, this and similar methods used have had a substantial impact on Ireland’s financial system and records, something that is still being addressed today.

The Double Irish was conducted via the following steps. First, a U.S. corporate entity would develop a product or software for a price, and then sell it to a wholly owned subsidiary in Bermuda. Next, the company in Bermuda would revalue it as an intangible asset of a far greater price, as Bermuda is tax free. The Bermuda subsidiary would then license it to another subsidiary in Ireland for the same price. Important to note is …

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