We were asked to take part in a panel discussion on TV3’s “Tonight with Vincent Browne” to discuss housing. The main point that we raised was that prices are going to rise with or without any ‘help to buy’ scheme due to factors outside of the Governments control (such as zero interest rate policy by Central Banks).
2016 Mortgage lending rules submission by Irish Mortgage Brokers
We sent our research and thoughts on the lending rules to the Central Bank as part of their industry consultation process regarding the existing mortgage lending rules.
While we are critical of them in particular for first time buyers, we haven’t had an issue on other aspects of it (such as controls for investors). The submission argues with supporting evidence for 90% loans for first time buyers to be available generally but to keep other controls generally in place, or to do nothing at all and give the adjustments more time to bed in.
Submission is here: 2016 Central Bank macroprudential rules submission Irish Mortgage Brokers
The findings of a survey carried out by Behavior and Attitudes of clients of Irish Mortgage Brokers, DNG and Hooke & MacDonald which was mentioned in the press is also available here: 2016 MacroPrudential review – survey findings
RTE News at 9: Irish Mortgage Brokers discuss loan sales
We were asked to comment on loan sales, this took place at the IPAV national conference in Castleknock on the 11th of June 2016.
Opportunists preying on fear are the real vultures
This was a joint opinion piece by Karl Deeter of Irish Mortgage Brokers and Ross Maguire of New Beginning. Ross is a Senior Counsel and a highly skilled professional in the area of property rights. The point being raised was that property rights and contractual obligations are very well set out in Irish law.
There are those that would have you believe that a person or company can buy your loan and suddenly turf you out, that simply isn’t the case and is factually incorrect. We refer to people sending out that kind of nonsense as being mandarins in the ‘Ministry of Fear’ and make the point that the facts matter.
How to knock €138,000 off your mortgage?!
This was an interesting piece by Louise McBride in the Sunday Independent. The assumptions were based on a fairly hefty mortgage figure, but the general idea remains strong, that if you get a lower mortgage rate you can save money.
Our contribution was to say that in an ere of low interest rates and with rates falling that “The banks all know that interest rates are coming down – and that one way to kill the switcher market is to get more people onto fixed rate mortgages,” said Karl Deeter of Irish Mortgage Brokers. “Banks are playing a defensive game. They’re not competing on variable rates – they’re competing on fixed rates instead.”
To us this is simplistic but also true, if banks fear attrition of their performing loan book the best thing you can do is take high variable margin from those willing to pay it, or who aren’t bothered by it (as is common with older loans) or to defend your position by locking in potential switchers seeking value by offering them value in return for commitment …
Time to stop third party meddlers from progress prevention
A common theme in the frustrations of life generally is where you have a third party who can disrupt the intentions of another and in turn remain fairly unaffected themselves. This article appeared in the Sunday Business Post on the 29th of May and was on that topic.
(original below)
A system which allows unfair delays to those trying to deliver housing must be scrapped.
Best known for penning The Prince, a Renaissance-era handbook for unscrupulous politicians, Florentine historian Niccolo Machiavelli advised: “Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.”
To that end, if there’s one way to annoy a third-party meddler it’s to identify them. It gets their back up.
The ‘deception’ in this respect is the common acceptance of third-party rights. Unconnected third parties should not (and don’t) have the right to intrude on your private life or private moveable property as long as you aren’t breaking the law. But when it comes to immovable or fixed property, we don’t act the same way. We allow anyone to voice their dissent and disrupt a …
UTV News: Pearse Doherty, Karl Deeter & Stephen Curtis on the new mortgage bill
UTV hosted a conversation about the new Mortgage Bill that went through the Dail last night. The conversation was hosted by Claire Brock and the panel was made up of Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein), Stephen Curtis (IMHO) and Karl Deeter of Irish Mortgage Brokers.
Is equality about money or rights?
In this piece which appeared originally in the Sunday Business Post on the 8th of May 2016, Karl Deeter questions the conventional wisdom of calls for a right to housing (or housing equality) being about ‘rights’ and that it is perhaps more about money and governance.
The script after this text in italics is the text of the article that was published.
When we hear people talk about inequality or social issues like housing, is it about money and process or is it about rights? This may seem obvious at first, but when you start to look into it, often it’s not so simple.
It’s obvious that a person with no place to call home isn’t equal to those who have such a place (be it rented or owned) and civil society generally accepts that this implies a certain level of duty on the rest of us.
Usually the state helps to equalise this situation by making the provision of a place to call home possible, be it social housing or emergency accommodation. This would lead to the assumption that …
Irish Times article by John McCartney, Lorcan Sirr & Karl Deeter
The Irish Times carried an article by John McCartney (Savills), Lorcan Sirr (DIT Bolton St) and Karl Deeter (Irish Mortgage Brokers) about the issues surrounding a shift away from a home ownership model.
Our point isn’t that there is a definitive ‘right or wrong’ way to provide housing, obviously our market has massive issues at present, but the larger question is the long run effects and how a lack of household savings can turn a property crisis into a pension crisis of sorts.
That is why we need to find new solutions for more than just housing.
Irish Examiner quotes Irish Mortgage Brokers on planning
The Irish Planning Institute held their national convention in Athlone and we were pleased to see one of our own as one of the opening speakers at it. The points raised about planning, housing, and the importance of household wealth were received well by the audience which was about 300 strong and made up of the key players in planning throughout Ireland.
Claire O’Sullivan of The Irish Examiner followed up with a good piece on the conference and quoted Karl Deeter extensively, the excerpts from the article are below.
The Government should consider removing the rights of people to object to proposed developments as it is hugely costly, causes delays, and is not necessary, the Irish Planning Institute’s annual conference heard.
A compliance manager with the Irish Mortgage Brokers Association, Karl Deeter, said instead there should be greater trust in the ability of planners and the local authority.
He said a “third party right to object” did not exist in many countries as the planning departments and local authority are expected to make the correct decision.
“The role …