Understanding the Irish Housing Crisis

A housing crisis can be detrimental to the economy of a country. A housing crisis occurs when the availability of affordable housing is rare and you need a higher income to be able to afford a place to live.

 

A housing crisis happens due to a change in supply and demand for real estate. If there are a lot of houses with few people looking, housing prices will drop. Likewise if there are lots of people looking for houses with few properties available prices will go up.

 

The problem with this system is the availability of housing does not have to do with salaries in the area, so when housing prices go up too much and the income does not change it creates a crisis.

 

Digital Mortgages can help people get out of the expensive rental market, allowing them to own property.

 

Why There’s a Crisis

 

Housing is a big part of a person’s monthly budget. For the typical person housing should account for about 35% of their monthly income.

 

When looking at the …

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The In’s and Out’s of Mortgage Technology in 2022

Mortgage technology has changed a lot in the past decade. Keeping up to date with the changes is important, to understand how to simplify the process for yourself while also saving the most money.

 

The future of mortgages is online with the increasing development of Fintech (Financial Technology). Learning how to take advantage of the new ways of doing business will help prepare through this transition from face to face business to online business.

 

Mortgage Tech in 2022

 

Mortgage Technology has improved significantly in recent years. This is due in large part to the COVID pandemic. Businesses and mortgage lenders specifically had to adapt quickly to the sudden shift to an all online business format.

 

This led to the implementation of the digital mortgage application process becoming standardized as no business was being done in person and on paper. Fintech markets are continuing to grow and with this the technology to make financial processes easier is now becoming available.

 

OnlineApplication is a company that makes software that assists lenders with digital mortgage applications which simplifies …

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Fintech is the Future, Here’s Everything You Need to Know

FinTech (Financial Technology) is the new modern technology designed to compete with the traditional financial methods of delivering services.

 

With the increase of importance of technology due to the COVID pandemic, Fintech has evolved and became significantly more important to banks and people alike.

 

With this transition occurring it is important for everyone to understand what these changes mean and how it will continue to evolve in the future. 

 

What’s new

 

With the generations of people who grew up with technology getting older, businesses have had to adapt to please these generations.

 

People have become more and more comfortable managing their money and businesses online. They are eager to use new technology because it offers these businesses and people flexibility that they did not have before.

 

Some of the results of this increase in Fintech is the addition of digital mortgages and digital lenders. This technology was very important for banks because when COVID happened it was the only way to do business.

 

Now people prefer the business to be online because it …

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How to Apply for a Digital Mortgage Online

Gone are the days of doing painstaking research to find the best bank to get a mortgage from. Buying a house or apartment is already difficult, why go through the hassle of loads of paperwork when you can fill out your information online and have it done for you.

Technology has evolved and with it, the digital mortgage process has too. Applying for a digital mortgage takes the stress out of your hands while simultaneously finding the best rates.

Getting Started

Starting the mortgage process can be an overwhelming situation when looking from the beginning. Companies such as OnlineApplication work to make this process fast and easy to use.

The pandemic has shifted much of work to online and gotten rid of the need for face to face interactions. With this new technology why would you do anything on paper?

What is OnlineApplication?

OnlineApplication is a company that works for brokers to find the best mortgage.

Our quick and simple process allows you to upload all your financial information to our safe and secure website. After that we …

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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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What is happening with interest rates, why, and what can you do?

What is happening with interest rates?

Interest rates rise and fall, we have been in a secular-ZIRP (zero interest rate policy) environment for quite some time and as people who subscribe to the monetarist school of thought, this would always lead to inflation which we are seeing now, albeit a fairly delayed response given how long this policy has been in place.

Why?

Not too long ago the yield curve was negative 20 years into the future such was the dismal outlook of markets for any level of inflation, but then you had a pandemic, the ‘great resignation’ and between labor and supply constraints along with monetary policy effects, there is inflation you haven’t seen in 40 years. Now the curve is negative only one year into the future and the price in the money markets has risen.

Just to clarify this, many mortgage providers get their money by buying it (you buy at X + interest rate and then ‘sell’ it to borrowers at X+margin [which is ideally above the price you bought it at]). In an oversimplified manner, …

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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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Understanding German Mortgages.

Mortgage lenders in Germany allow you to borrow up to 100% of the property value (although you will have to cover some other costs of buying a house, such as purchase fees, with your own equity). While some German banks will be willing to finance the full amount, loans of around 80% are more common.

A major German community-oriented bank that wants to bring its model to Ireland believes it could play a role in solving the housing crisis. Sparkasse, the biggest bank in Germany, wants to create an alternative to the major commercial banks, particularly in regional towns.

The European Investment Bank has indicated support for the €200m project, said Sparkasse. That support is conditional on the proposal receiving political backing in Ireland. So far, this has been slow to materialize.

Sparkasse, which issues half of all German mortgages at rates well below standard Irish rates, believes Ireland is ideal for its municipality-owned, non-profit model.

The 200-year-old bank is aimed squarely at SMEs and the middle segment of the market. In Germany, where it has 300,000 staff in hundreds …

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How to get a mortgage Ireland

There are many factors which play a huge role in your mortgage deal. Before starting to look for a house you should check with the lenders to get a statement of how much they are able to lend you. So you will know in what price range to look for a house.

The factors are: Your credit score – past payment history and borrowing behaviour [the higher score the better. The lower credit score you have the more you overpay.] Your debts – the less debts you have the better. If you owe too much, you will have to take out smaller mortgage or pay off your debt before you apply for a mortgage. Your work history – To get a mortgage you have to provide a proof that you are employed and have steady income and job [switching jobs all the time is not a great look for lenders]. Your down payment – The lender usually wants you to put money down so they have some sort of protection. Ideally 20% of the cost of your home [so you …

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